New “Brazilian Friends” Scholarship Pays It Forward to LLM Students
According to Latin Lawyer Magazine, Grenfel Calheiros, LLM’03, worked on more major business deals than any other lawyer in Latin America during the first two quarters of 2024 (the most recent available data when this story went to press).
Calheiros is the head of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett’s office in São Paulo, Brazil. His practice areas principally focus on mergers and acquisitions, capital market offerings of equity and debt, and other corporate finance transactions.
In addition to having been the busiest lawyer in his field within a region that covers more than seven million square miles, he has been busy building the office he runs, which has nearly tripled in size since he took on his leadership position. His family keeps him hopping, too, with two teenagers and a preteen.
As busy as he has been, Calheiros still made the time last year to manifest his appreciation for the Law School in the form of a scholarship for LLM students—the Amigos Brasileiros da Law School Scholarship Fund.
“My time in the LLM program significantly impacted who I am today, personally and professionally,” Calheiros said. “That year changed my life, and I am extremely grateful. I wanted to give back in a way that would help others experience and grow from the place that I love so much.”
Two current LLM students from Brazil have received the scholarship: Agnes Domingues dos Santos and Beatriz Antunes de Siqueira.
Siqueira said: “When I was working as a lawyer in Brazil, it always seemed that the most brilliant lawyers I met were from the University of Chicago, so it became a dream of mine to go there. I feel like I must have done something right in my life to have been accepted in the LLM program and to have received this generous support.”
The Law School’s associate dean for external affairs, Alex Steele, said: “Grenfel’s generous—and creative—gift will enable deserving students to enjoy the unique Law School experience that our graduates know and appreciate, and allow others to donate at any level to grow the number of students who benefit.”
“My time in the LLM program … changed my life, and I am extremely grateful. I wanted to give back in a way that would help others experience and grow from the place that I love so much.” Grenfel Calheiros, LLM’03
Reflecting on his own UChicago experiences, Calheiros remembers the exhilaration of being exposed to brilliant thinkers that included Ronald Coase and Gary Becker, the satisfaction of forming friendships that have remained strong over the years, and the pleasures of getting to know Chicago—“It’s a great city; even better than I had hoped it would be,” he said.
A compelling memory for him relates to the time, just before finals, when he badly broke his left forearm while playing soccer. He recalled: “I am left-handed, so I couldn’t use that arm at all, which meant that I couldn’t write or type, but every faculty member made an accommodation so I could honorably complete my degree. As rigorous and intellectual as the LLM program is, it also has a very big heart.”
After graduating from the Law School, Calheiros worked in Simpson Thacher’s New York office for nine years before returning to São Paulo and taking on the leadership of the firm’s office there. “We don’t practice local law here; we are an office for Simpson Thacher’s global practice,” he said. “I think I am an entrepreneurial person, and it has been a great opportunity for me to be able to build the business with the firm’s great resources supporting me—and, of course, all of this started with Chicago LLM program.”
