Biography
Mr. Amaral Gurgel, born in São Paulo (1946), holds dual citizenship, Canadian and Brazilian.
In 1969 he graduated from the São Paulo University Law School and was at once admitted to the Brazilian Bar, having also obtained a Philosophy degree from the Philosophy Institute of Lorena. Mr. Amaral Gurgel has further attended diverse ancillary law courses in Brazil, in Europe and the USA, such as a LLM in Luxury Business by FAAP, the 8th and the 18th Programs of Instruction for Lawyers at Harvard Law School. Apart from his own mother tongue (Portuguese), he has command of English, Italian, French and Spanish, having also attended extended courses of Ancient Greek and Latin. His legal practice embraces Business Law and Constitutional Law, contracts, transnational investments and wealth governance.
Following his 2000-2007 tenure as Consul of Brazil in British Columbia, three Knighthoods have been bestowed on him: Chevalier of the Order of Rio Branco; Knight of Grace of the Sovereign Order of St. John (Canada); Colar Cândido Fontoura do Mérito Industrial Farmacêutico.
Mr. Amaral-Gurgel has lectured university and business audiences in Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa, Toronto, Los Angeles, New York City, London, Antwerp, Brussels, Berlin, Vienna, Cambridge (Harvard), São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro on Brazilian Law, Economics, History and Social Environment, on Latin American Trade, and on Biotechnology & Pharmaceutical Patent Protection in Brazil. For over 15 years he acted as Chairman of the Board of Administration of a pharmaceutical industry in São Paulo. He has over 30 years of expertise with pharmaceutical regulation by providing legal advice to a good few European and American pharmaceutical industries.
Past and present memberships include: in Brazil, the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB), the Corps Judicial of the Arbitration Court of the Brazilian Bar Association (São Paulo Chapter), the São Paulo Bar Association Law Firms Commission, the Law Firms Association (CESA), the British Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the São Paulo Historical Society (IHGSP), and a number of bi-national Chambers of Commerce such as the AFROCHAMBER; in England, INTERLEGAL, the International Bar Association, the Canning House, the British-Brazilian and Portuguese Law Association (BBPLA) apud the Law Society, London; in the USA, the Brazilian Studies Association (University of New Mexico), and the American Bar Association; in Germany, the IBWF Institut für Betriebsberatung, Wirtschaftsförderung und –forschung e.V., Bonn, and BVMW Bundesverband mittelständische Wirtschaft, Berlin; in Japan, the Inter-Pacific Bar Association; in Uruguay, the MERCOSUR Association for the Rule of Law in International Relations, Montevideo.
