Our History
The Fragoso law firm was founded in 1952 by jurist Heleno Cláudio Fragoso
One of the greatest criminal lawyers in the history of Brazilian legal practice. A founding partner, he was vice-president of the Federal Council of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB) and a renowned defender of political prisoners and human rights during the military regime. Throughout his career, he received some of the most prestigious academic titles, such as Doctor Honoris Causa from the University of Coimbra, in Portugal; Full Professor of Criminal Law at UERJ and Candido Mendes University; and Livre-Docente at UFRJ, a position he achieved at age 35 when he won the university’s public examination with the monograph “Conduta Punível” (Punishable Conduct).
Author of 14 books on Criminal Law, Heleno Fragoso also served as vice-president of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) in Geneva (Switzerland), and of the International Association of Penal Law (AIDP) in Paris (France). During the dictatorship, he established himself as one of the most important human rights defenders in Brazil. A militant lawyer throughout his life, he died in May 1985, in Rio de Janeiro, at the age of 59.
"in 1987 the firm assumed the name Fragoso Advogados"
In 1967, his son Fernando Fragoso joined the firm. Two years later, the firm began acting in high-profile national financial crime cases, defending, over the following decades, institutions and companies such as Credence, Banco Econômico, Banco Mineiro do Oeste, Marcello Leite Barbosa CTVM, Delfin-Rio, Delfin-São Paulo, Coroa-Brastel, Banco Interunion, Banco Nacional, Banco Marka, Banco Boavista, and Banco Atlantis, among others.
In 1981, José Carlos Fragoso, Heleno’s son and Fernando’s brother, also joined the firm. In 1987, two years after the founder’s death, the firm assumed its current name. Years later, the family tradition continued with the arrival of Christiano Fragoso and Rodrigo Fragoso — Fernando’s sons —, who joined the partnership in 1994 and 1996, respectively.
In 1997, the firm expanded its practice to include fraud cases against insurance companies, going on to represent some of the largest companies in the Brazilian market. Consolidated in Rio de Janeiro since its creation, the firm expanded its practice area, opening a branch in São Paulo in 2004. Thus, Fragoso Advogados further positioned itself as a benchmark in Criminal Law in Brazil.
In 2010, Fernando Fragoso was elected president of the Institute of Brazilian Lawyers (IAB), a position he held for two terms. The following year, Christiano Fragoso earned a Ph.D. in Criminal Law from UERJ, with the thesis “Autoritarismo e Sistema Penal” (Authoritarianism and the Penal System), in addition to passing the public examination for Adjunct Professor at the same university. In 2017, Fernando Fragoso was appointed Counselor of the National Council of Criminal and Penitentiary Policy by then Minister of Justice Alexandre de Moraes.
The new generation of the family joined the firm in 2020, with the arrival of João Pedro Fragoso. In 2022, Fernando Fragoso assumed the presidency of the Inter-American Bar Association, a few months before his passing on October 8 of that year. In 2023, João Pedro Fragoso earned a master’s degree in Economic Criminal Law from FGV-SP. In 2024, Rodrigo Falk Fragoso concluded his Ph.D. in Criminal Law at USP, with the thesis “Gestão Temerária de Instituição Financeira” (Reckless Management of a Financial Institution).
"the firm expanded its practice area, opening a branch in São Paulo in 2004"
Timeline
