Gustavo Schmidt (LL.M. '08) appointed secretary chief of staff for Rio de Janeiro's mayor

Gustavo Schmidt (LL.M. ’08) has been appointed secretary chief of staff for the office of Mayor Eduardo Paes of Rio de Janeiro. In his new position, Schmidt acts as Paes’s closest advisor on public policy and has been directly involved in the city’s largest-scale projects and events, including two new major museums, the 2014 World Cup, and the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Gustavo Schmidt (LL.M. '08)Schmidt previously served as Paes’s legal assistant, addressing immediate matters of law for the mayor while also teaching constitutional law at Getúlio Vargas Foundation. Before attending NYU Law, Schmidt worked as a municipal attorney for Rio de Janeiro’s attorney general and was also a founding partner of Schmidt, Lourenço, Kingston Attorneys at Law, from which he has since resigned.

Apart from continuing to teach constitutional law, Schmidt acts as Rio de Janeiro’s chief ombudsman. He has presided over the board of directors of the Port Area Urban Development Company, which controls the largest public-private partnership ever developed in Brazil: a multibillion-dollar venture encompassing housing, transit, tourism, business, and the environment.

Schmidt has received the Zenóbio da Costa Award, the highest honor granted by the Municipal Guard, and the Judiciary Award of Merit, bestowed by the Federal Labor Court along with the mayor of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil’s president.

Posted on February 1, 2013