Professor, lawyer and researcher

BrunoBastosBecker

Hello, I am Bruno. I work on competition law, digital markets and law and economics. Born in southern Brazil, based in São Paulo, married to Rafael, dog father to Pudim, gay, and an advocate.

I started out studying advertising, and never quite left it behind. I have real respect for communication, and I use what I learned there every day: speaking plainly and close to the people I am talking to, without the jargon that keeps others out of law. A good class is one people understand.

I am curious and somewhat restless, so I always have several projects running at once: events, courses, reading groups, research. I also speak and consult on a range of legal and diversity topics. Off the clock, I went back to studying the transverse flute.

This site exists to keep my work within reach: what I teach, what I am researching and what is still half finished. If something here interests you, write to me. I like conversation, research done jointly, and above all people who show up disagreeing.

Note Personal and independent website. Everything here is my own responsibility and does not represent the position of ESPM, of my law firm or of any other institution. I also practise law, which means I write about matters I work on professionally: whenever a text relates to a case or client of mine, that is stated in the text itself.

Portrait of Bruno Bastos Becker
São Paulo

01

Profile

I am a professor of Economic, Competition and Regulatory Law at the ESPM Law School and a partner at a small competition boutique. My research covers market structure, economic power, digital platforms, investment funds and law and economics.

I am a professor of Economic, Competition and Regulatory Law at the ESPM Law School, in São Paulo. My research covers market structure, economic power, digital platforms, investment funds and law and economics, with a preference for empirical work done in groups.

I studied advertising before law, and that detour became method. Communication is not decoration on a legal argument, it is part of it: an argument nobody understands convinces nobody. I carry that into the classroom, into legal opinions and into the events I organise.

I read law at UFRGS, spent a year at Giessen on the Unibral programme, took an LL.M. at Yale, where I was an editor of the Yale Journal on Regulation, and completed a doctorate in Commercial Law at the University of São Paulo, with research at the Max Planck Institute in Hamburg. I worked in the office of the president of CADE, the Brazilian competition authority, at the Bundeskartellamt in Germany, at competition practices in private firms, and for six years as in-house counsel at Abbott, in Brazil and in Chicago. In 2025 I served as a UNDP consultant to CADE on the public hearing regarding the iOS and Android digital ecosystems.

I am passionate about in-house practice. I came out of those six years convinced that the legal department is the least understood position in competition law: academia rarely takes it as an object of study, and outside counsel tends to treat it as a client rather than as a technical interlocutor. Yet it is the in-house lawyer who sits inside the economic agent, where competition decisions are actually made, long before anything becomes a case. I bring that into the classroom, into the programmes I direct and into my research, as a technical problem rather than a market anecdote.

Today I split my time between teaching, research and competition practice, and I am a partner at a small firm, a choice that leaves my schedule free for classes and supervision.

Bruno standing at a work table
At the office, São Paulo

Affiliations

  • ESPMAssociate professor, since 2026
  • Berardo Lilla Becker Segala DanielPartner, since 2024

Education

  • 2014 to 2019Doctorate in Commercial Law, University of São PauloThesis: Investment Funds in Brazil, functional anatomy and a critical regulatory analysis. Supervised by Carlos Pagano Botana Portugal Gouvêa. Approved with a recommendation for publication
  • 2016 to 2017LL.M., Yale Law SchoolInstituto Ling scholarship. Editor and lead editor of the Yale Journal on Regulation. Board of the Yale Law & Business Society
  • 2016Research stay, Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches und internationales Privatrecht, Hamburg
  • 2007 to 2008Exchange year, Justus-Liebig-Universität GiessenUnibral programme, CAPES and DAAD
  • 2006 to 2011LL.B., Federal University of Rio Grande do SulRanked first in the entrance examination. FAPERGS research scholarship. Teaching assistant in Political Economy and International Competition Law

Professional experience

  • Abbott Laboratories, ChicagoCounsel, rapid diagnostics, 2022 to 2024
  • Abbott Laboratories BrazilSenior legal manager, 2018 to 2022
  • Barbosa, Müssnich & AragãoCompetition lawyer, 2012 to 2015 and 2017 to 2018
  • Souto Correa AdvogadosHead of the competition practice, 2016 to 2017
  • Bundeskartellamt, BonnInternational competition affairs, 2011
  • CADEOffice of the president, 2009 to 2010. UNDP consultant, 2025
  • Deutsche Bundesbank and Deutsche BankFrankfurt, 2008

Academic positions

  • ESPMAssociate professor, since 2026
  • FGV Law School São PauloUndergraduate lecturer, 2019 to 2021. Researcher at the Law, Economics and Governance Centre, 2015 to 2016
  • Universidade São JudasUndergraduate lecturer, 2019
  • UnisinosVisiting professor, LL.M. in Business Law, 2015
  • IBMECGuest lecturer
  • EBRADIVisiting professor, 2019
  • UFRGSTeaching assistant in Political Economy and International Competition Law, 2011

Institutional roles

  • Frente Jurídica LGBTQIAPN+Founder and coordinator
  • IBRACDirector of the Diversity and Training Committee
  • ABDE, Brazilian Law and Economics AssociationTreasurer, 2014 to 2016
  • IDERS, Law and Economics Institute of Rio Grande do SulSecretary director, 2012 to 2018. Executive secretary, 2010 to 2012
  • PRIDE Network, AbbottBrazil, Latin America and global lead

02

Teaching

Teaching is the centre of what I do. I like small classes, calling students by name, a real case on the table and the freedom to disagree with me. Besides the undergraduate courses at ESPM, I teach in postgraduate programmes and design and direct executive courses.

ESPM

Bruno outside the ESPM entrance
ESPM Law School, São Paulo

Undergraduate courses at the Law School. I also teach in postgraduate and specialisation programmes.

Competition Law

Market structure, merger control, unilateral conduct and cartels, built on CADE case law.

Regulatory Law

Agencies, regulatory design, market failures and the line between regulating and competing.

Economic Law

The constitutional economic order, economic power and the legal instruments of state intervention.

Law and Economics

Incentives, transaction costs and economic method applied to concrete legal problems.

Courses I have directed

Bruno teaching a class on types of investment funds
A class on the regulation of investment funds, UFRGS

Executive programmes I designed and led, open to practitioners in the field.

2025

Competition Law Programme

IBRAC · academic direction

Training in competition law with an emphasis on a critical reading of its normative, institutional and economic foundations, in Brazil and in comparative perspective.

2024

Competition Law Programme

Future Law · academic direction and teaching

A programme aimed at in-house practice and digital markets, built around concrete cases and the intersections between competition, innovation, ESG and big data.

The full list of courses, supervision and examination boards is on my Lattes CV.

03

Research

I rely heavily on law and economics and on empirical method. I like working with data, decision databases and numbers, because much of what legal scholarship repeats has never been measured. I research in groups whenever possible: I believe in exchanging ideas and I do not think research needs to be solitary. One question that interests me most is the in-house one: how competition decisions are made inside the economic agent, before there is ever a case.

Research lines

Bruno at a working panel in a formal auditorium
Research discussion panel
  • Digital platformsHow antitrust adapts to multi-sided markets, self-preferencing and closed ecosystems.
  • Law and economicsIncentives, transaction costs and the use of economic method to test legal solutions.
  • Behavioural law and economicsWhat behavioural economics reveals about abuse strategies antitrust fails to see.
  • Institutional investorsInvestment funds, stewardship and the line between collective vehicle and corporate instrument.
  • Healthcare and competitionSector restructuring, technological convergence and the competitive effects of vertical integration.
  • Information as a legal objectHow law codifies information into personal data, trade secret, competitive input and speech.
  • Competition and corruptionThe interfaces between competition policy design and anti-corruption mechanisms.

Projects and working papers

2017
Ongoing

Competition Law in Digital Platforms

Principal investigator · undergraduate, master's and doctoral students

A long-running research project on how antitrust adapts to platform markets, and the basis for much of what I publish on the subject.

2026
Work in progress

What Does Economic Power Mean?

A genealogy of the distinction between economic power and market power, built from cases where one exists without the other.

2026
Work in progress

Blowing the Wrong Whistle

With José Carlos da Matta Berardo

On the design of leniency programmes and the incentives they actually produce.

04

Outreach

I always have several projects running at once: events, courses, reading groups, mentoring and student competitions. Some last years, others are born for a single edition. I also speak at events on competition, digital markets, regulation and investment funds, and act as an expert opinion author in my field. Much of this comes from wanting to bring the people inside companies closer to the technical and academic debate.

Projects

I always have several projects running at once: events, courses, reading groups and training initiatives. Some last years, others are born for a single edition.

Pizza com In-House

Redes Sociais do Direito

ESPM

2014

Centre for Asian Legal Studies

University of São Paulo Law School · coordinator

The first group of its kind at the school devoted to Asian legal systems, created to break through the Eurocentrism of the material available to undergraduates.

2010

AJHE, Hernani Estrella Business Law Clinic

UFRGS · founder and general coordinator

A free legal clinic for non-profits and small businesses without access to private counsel. I founded it in 2010 and it has been running for more than fifteen years.

2009

NEDEP, Centre for Law, Economics and Public Policy Studies

UFRGS · co-founder and events coordinator

A student think tank on public policy, with workshops for secondary school pupils and an annual conference. I conceived and organised two editions of the Winter School of Law and Economics.

Mentoring

Bruno in a stage conversation with another speaker
Stage conversation on digital markets

Mentoring is the work that gives me the most back. I do it through three channels in academic and professional settings, and all of them take newcomers. There is also the mentoring programme of the Frente Jurídica LGBTQIAPN+, which appears under diversity.

  • ESPM
  • IBRAC
  • Instituto Ling

Competitions

Bruno with two colleagues at the Coditech panel
Coditech judging panel, University of São Paulo Law School

I take part in and encourage student competitions. They are the format that brings students closest to real practice, and the preparation matters more than the result.

  • CoditechJudge in 2025. Final round judge in 2026
  • WICADECoach of the ESPM team

Speaking and expert opinions

I speak at events on competition law, digital markets, regulation and investment funds, at law firms, companies, associations and universities. I also write expert opinions on competition and regulatory matters. Invitations through the contact details below.

Bruno speaking into a microphone at a panel table
Public debate on regulation

I speak at events and advise on competition law, digital markets, regulation, investment funds and diversity, for law firms, companies, associations and universities. Invitations through the contact details at the end of the page.

05

Publications

Articles, chapters and opinion pieces, linking to the full text wherever it is available. Where there is no link yet, write to me and I will send the PDF. The complete record is on my Lattes CV. Texts in Portuguese unless noted.

Journal articles

Book chapters

Bruno and Diego Matos Alves holding copies of the book
Launch of Direito, Saúde e Tecnologia, with Diego Matos Alves, at Future Law Experience 2025
2025

The new DNA of competition in healthcare: sector restructuring and technological convergence

In: Direito, Saúde e Tecnologia, FL Books · with Diego Matos Alves · in Portuguese

2022

The Brazilian Stewardship Framework

In: Global Shareholder Stewardship, Cambridge University Press, pp. 507 to 526 · with Rafael Andrade and Viviane Muller Prado

2020

Digital platforms and the limits of traditional antitrust: mapping the current debate

In: Defesa da concorrência em plataformas digitais, FGV Direito SP, pp. 40 to 83 · with Marcela Mattiuzzo · in Portuguese

2017

How Does Brazil Review Multi-Jurisdictional Merger Cases: An Empirical Study from the Competition Authority's Perspective

In: Brazilian Antitrust Law, 5 Years, IBRAC, pp. 29 to 43 · with Anna Binotto Massaro

2016

Compatibility of Transactional Resolutions of Antitrust Proceedings: Brazil

In: LIDC Contributions on Antitrust Law, Singer, p. 135 · with José Carlos da Matta Berardo

2015

Antitrust in the Groceries Sector: Brazil

In: Antitrust in the Groceries Sector, Singer, p. 95 · with José Carlos da Matta Berardo

2015

Ex ante merger review four years on: what have we lawyers learned?

In: A Lei 12.529/2011 e a nova política de defesa da concorrência, Singular, pp. 159 to 180 · with Barbara Rosenberg and José Carlos da Matta Berardo · in Portuguese

2015

Introductory notes on merger control under Brazilian law

In: Direito Econômico Atual, Método, p. 50 · with Barbara Rosenberg and José Carlos da Matta Berardo · in Portuguese

2011

Der Europäische Steuerwettbewerb: die Problematik der Unternehmensbesteuerung in der Erweiterung der Europäischen Union

In: Diálogo entre o Direito Brasileiro e o Direito Alemão, Orquestra, pp. 408 to 419 · in German

Opinion and commentary

2026

When AI Prices, Who Is Liable? A Brazilian Perspective

Kluwer Competition Law Blog · with José Carlos da Matta Berardo, Stephanie Penereiro and J. P. Serafin

2026

When Does a Foreign-to-Foreign Deal Trigger a Brazilian Filing? CADE Draws the Line

Kluwer Competition Law Blog · with Stephanie Penereiro and J. P. Serafin

2025

The fallout of the Meta ruling in the United States

Tele Síntese · in Portuguese

2024

New investigations into surveillance pricing and behavioural conduct

JOTA · with José Carlos da Matta Berardo and J. M. Daniel · in Portuguese

Press

Bruno interviewed on Mercado Aberto, Canal UOL
Interview on Mercado Aberto, Canal UOL

Interviews, appearances and quotes in the press.

2026

Report on the digital markets bill improves the government's original text, experts say

Broadcast, Agência Estado · 16 July

Theses

2019

Investment Funds in Brazil: functional anatomy and a critical regulatory analysis

Doctoral thesis, University of São Paulo Law School · supervised by Carlos Pagano Botana Portugal Gouvêa · approved with a recommendation for publication

2011

State intervention in the economy and CADE's deviation of function in merger control

Undergraduate dissertation, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul · supervised by Maria Isabel de Azevedo Souza

06

Diversity

For almost ten years I have worked on diversity within the legal profession, and not as a side issue. Who gets to speak on a panel, who gets hired by a firm and who manages to stay are also questions of market structure.

Track record

Bruno filming next to the Abbott PRIDE Network banner
PRIDE Network, Abbott, Chicago

BMA Diversidade

Barbosa, Müssnich & Aragão · co-founder

I took part in setting up the firm's diversity programme, the first formal structure of its kind where I worked.

PRIDE Network Brazil

Abbott · founder and lead

I created the LGBTQIAPN+ employee resource group of the Brazilian affiliate from scratch.

PRIDE Network Latin America

Abbott · regional lead

Expanding the network across the region, coordinating between affiliates.

PRIDE Network global

Abbott · global lead

Leading the network worldwide, from Chicago.

Frente Jurídica LGBTQIAPN+

Founder and coordinator

A non-profit organisation of LGBTQIAPN+ lawyers, today with more than five hundred members and a steady presence in São Paulo's legal community. It runs a mentoring programme for people starting out in the profession.

2024

IBRAC, Diversity and Training Committee

Coordinator · 2024 to 2025 term

2026

IBRAC, Diversity and Training Committee

Director · 2026 to 2027 term

Applying the Guide on Diversity and Training for Events and Seminars, including in the panel selection rules of the International Competition Law Seminar.

Speaking and consulting on diversity

Bruno on a diversity panel
Panel on diversity in the legal profession

I have spoken about diversity at law firms and companies, and I advise on setting up diversity initiatives: designing employee resource groups, targets, internal policies and criteria for events. I like bringing economic and technical perspective into this debate, rather than treating it as rhetoric alone. For invitations, the contact details are at the end of the page.

Writing and interviews

2025

Why LGBTI+ diversity matters for business

Nexo Jornal · in Portuguese

07

Contact

Bruno in conversation with a colleague at the office
Conversation is how most of my work begins
brunobecker@gmail.comResearch and invitations becker@berardo.adv.brLaw firm Lattes CVCNPq ESPM faculty pageInstitutional Profile at Berardo Lilla AdvogadosLaw firm Bruno Bastos BeckerLinkedIn
Bruno Bastos Becker · São Paulo · Personal and independent website Updated July 2026