Matheus Bastos Oliveira
Counsel
Areas of Focus
- International Arbitration
- Investment Treaty Arbitration & Disputes
- International Commercial Arbitration & Disputes
- International Disputes
- Energy Disputes
- Mining, Minerals & Materials
- Oil & Gas
- Restructuring Litigation
- Disputes & Investigations
- Aviation, Space & Defense
- Brazilian national with a practice focused on Latin America.
- Dual-qualified, trilingual practitioner in commercial and investor-state arbitration, specializing in mining, energy, agriculture and aviation.
- Recognized as an Associate to Watch by Chambers Global.
- Member of the Rising Arbitrators Initiative (RAI) and the Brazilian Arbitration Committee (CBar).
Matheus is a counsel in Akin’s international arbitration practice in New York. For over 10 years, he has represented clients in commercial and investor-state arbitrations across the mining and metals, energy and aviation sectors throughout Latin America and the United States.
He is dual-qualified in Brazil and New York and fluent in English, Spanish and Portuguese. His multicultural background and deep familiarity with civil and common law systems inform his approach to every dispute. His practice spans proceedings under major arbitral institutions, including the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), the Centro de Arbitragem e Mediação da Câmara de Comércio Brasil-Canadá (CAM-CCBC) and ad hoc proceedings under the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Rules.
He advises on disputes arising from post-M&A transactions, joint ventures and shareholder agreements, as well as treaty-based claims involving state conduct. He has also represented creditors, bondholders and trustees in the restructuring of major energy, oil and gas, and telecommunications companies in the region—bringing that experience directly to bear in disputes where insolvency and arbitration intersect.
Matheus is an active member of the international arbitration community. He contributed to the seventh edition of Redfern and Hunter on International Arbitration, serves as an Assistant Editor of the Kluwer Arbitration Blog and is a member of the Rising Arbitrators Initiative (RAI) and the Brazilian Arbitration Committee (CBar). He previously served as North America Representative for Young ICCA. Chambers Global has recognized him as an Associate to Watch, with sources describing him to Chambers as “an outstanding Brazilian lawyer” and “a star associate.”
Prior to joining Akin, he practiced at a leading international firm and, before that, at an elite Brazilian law firm.
- Represented a global industrial metals and mining company in a post-M&A arbitration seated in São Paulo and governed by Brazilian law, concerning the exercise of a put option and the breach of a non-compete in a shareholders’ agreement.
- Represented Eco Oro Minerals in an ICSID arbitration against Colombia under the Canada-Colombia FTA concerning adverse measures affecting its investment in a gold mining concession.
- Represented a Brazilian conglomerate in a post-M&A arbitration arising out of a share purchase agreement and issues concerning control over a pulp-and-paper company in Brazil.
- Represented an American company that operates offshore support vessels in an arbitration arising out of a Bareboat Charter Agreement.
- Represented investment funds in the insolvency and restructuring proceedings of a Brazilian offshore oil and gas services company.
- Represented the trustee in the insolvency and restructuring of Eneva S.A., a Brazilian private natural gas company with onshore fields in Brazil.
- Represented investment funds in the insolvency and restructuring proceedings of a Brazilian telecommunications company.
LanguagesPortuguese
Spanish
Portuguese
Spanish
Education
- LL.M., University of Virginia, 2019
- LL.M., Fundação Getúlio Vargas, 2017
- LL.B., Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, 2014
- LL.M., University of Virginia, 2019
- LL.M., Fundação Getúlio Vargas, 2017
- LL.B., Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, 2014
Bar Admissions
- New York
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Special Legal Consultant in the District of Columbia
-
Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil (Brazilian BAR)
- New York
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Special Legal Consultant in the District of Columbia
-
Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil (Brazilian BAR)
- Chambers Global, International Arbitration, Associate to Watch, 2025 and 2026.
- Assistant Editor, Kluwer Arbitration Blog.
- Member, Rising Arbitrators Initiative (RAI).
- Member, Brazilian Arbitration Committee (CBar).
- Speaker, “European Investments in Brazil: Bracing for Regulatory Shocks in Energy, Concessions, and Tax,” CIArb Brazil Branch, Paris Arbitration Week (2026).
- Speaker, “Careers in International Law with a Focus on Latin America,” American Society of International Law (ASIL) Annual Meeting (2025).
- Speaker, “Cross-Border M&A and Arbitration,” Demarest Advogados (2025).
- Speaker, III Georgetown Brazilian Arbitration Day (2024).
- Speaker, “Careers in International Commercial Arbitration,” Young ICCA and DRC (2023).
- Speaker, “Young Arbitrator Debate Series,” American Society of International Law (2021).
- Speaker, “Arbitrations Involving State Entities in Brazil,” CJA (2021).
- Speaker, “Investment Arbitration in Latin America,” CBar Jovem (2020).
- Speaker, “The Effects of Brazilian Bankruptcy on Domestic and International Arbitration” (2020).
- Speaker, International Arbitration Day, University of Virginia (2020).
- Author, “Arbitrations in Brazil: What Do Numbers Really Say?,” Kluwer Arbitration Blog (2026).
- Author, “Confidentiality of Arbitration in 30 Years of Brazilian Arbitration Law,” Ed. Migalhas (2026).
- Author, “Early Production of Evidence in Arbitration: A Pragmatic Shortcut? Lessons from Brazil,” Kluwer Arbitration Blog (2025).
- Author, “The Internationalization of Arbitration in Brazil: a Rising Trend,” Freshfields (2025).
- Author, “Arbitragem e Insolvência,” in Tratado de Arbitragem, Ed. Foco (2023).
