Fábio Prieto de Souza rejoins Velloza Advogados as a partner in the Strategic Consulting and Law practice area
Lawyer, jurist, and legal advisor Fábio Prieto de Souza resumes his position as partner at Velloza Advogados in the Strategic Consulting and Law practice area, after resigning as Secretary of Justice and Citizenship of the State of São Paulo.
With over 45 years of professional legal experience, including in private practice, the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Judiciary, Fábio has held prominent positions in the Government of the State of São Paulo, the last of which was Secretary of Justice and Citizenship (January 2023-January 2026).
He was president of the Board of Trustees of the PROCON Foundation (primary agency for consumer protection), of the Advisory Board of IPEM – Institute of Weights and Measures, of the Council of the Diffuse Interests Fund, and a member of the Anti-Corruption Committee of the State Comptroller General’s Office.
Relying on his extensive experience in the public and private sectors, Fábio will provide strategic legal consulting services for decision-making and risk analysis in dispute resolution and prevention.
“Despite all my years in the legal profession, I continue to nurture a curiosity mindset and this has always enabled me to approach matters with a fresh perspective for delivering legal strategies in the rapidly evolving community and business landscape. I bring to Velloza Advogados this commitment of turning the expertise I have accumulated as attorney, public prosecutor, judge and appointed councilor into effective advice for the firm’s clients.”
Fábio has a distinguished career, with recognized experience in all major legal careers having held leadership positions in them.
After serving as a federal judge in the states of São Paulo and Mato Grosso do Sul, he was appointed federal judge at the age of 36, based on merit. For more than two decades, he was a member of the Federal Regional Court of the 3rd Region (TRF-3), the largest federal appeals court in the country, based in São Paulo. He was the youngest president in the history of TRF-3, as well as head of internal affairs, president of the Special Body charged with administrative and adjudication of writs of mandamus, among other sensitive matters, and of three specialized panels of said Federal Court.
Recognized as one of the finest jurists of his generation, Fábio ruled on matters of tax, criminal, and administrative law, privatizations, public contracts, banking and capital market regulation, competition and consumer law, public tenders, tax foreclosures, expropriations, possessory actions, and administrative misconduct, among many other relevant topics.
In the Electoral Court, he was a full and substitute judge at the Regional Electoral Court of São Paulo for three terms.
He was also a member of the Public Prosecutor’s Office of the State of São Paulo for five years, having worked in regional cities and in the capital in civil and criminal offices. At the age of 27, he was awarded first place in the “Best Forensic Reasoning” competition, an intellectual tradition held among prosecutors in the State of São Paulo.
Fábio has extensive experience on boards. In addition to those he chaired and served on in the São Paulo State Government, he was an advisor to the Public Ethics Commission of the Presidency of the Republic and the Federal Justice Council. At TRF-3, he was a councilor and chaired the Justice and Administration Councils.
Internationally, he was a member of the board of directors of the International Association of Tax Judges for seven years (2016-2023), having been elected at the General Assembly in Madrid and reelected at those in Helsinki (Finland), Cambridge (United Kingdom), Ottawa (Canada) and virtually in 2021.
In private entities, he is currently vice-president of the Legal Council of the Federation of Industries of the State of São Paulo (FIESP), where he was vice-president of the Council of Higher Studies. At the Federation of Commerce (FECOMÉRCIO) in the State of São Paulo, he is an advisor to the Superior Council of Law.
Throughout his career, he has received numerous civil and military honors and awards. He is a Citizen of São Paulo and São Bernardo do Campo, titles granted by the respective City Councils. He has received the highest honors from all courts based in the State of São Paulo and from the Superior Military Court in Brasília.
He was distinguished with the highest honor of the Brazilian Army, the Grand Officer of the Order of Military Merit. He also received the Order of Military Merit awarded by the Brazilian Navy and the Brazilian Air Force.
