February 1, 2022

11:02

Malu Dacio – Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – With 77 valid votes, the slate ‘OAB of Open Doors’ won the elections for national presidency of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB). With the election of Beto Simonetti, it is the first time that a representative of the Amazonas sectional is ahead of the association. Beto will preside the directory of the Federal Council for the triennial 2022 to 2025. Out of 81 councilors, there were 2 blank votes and 1 null vote.

The election took place in the OAB plenary, in Brasilia, on Monday, 31st.  At the time, the 81 federal councilors of the Bar voted (three from each state and the Federal District). The inauguration takes place this Tuesday, January 1st, starting at 9am. The session and voting was presided over by the president of the electoral college, Dr. Felipe Sarmento.

Emotional, Beto said that the story will tell the Order’s efforts to do everything they did during the pandemic. He recalled that, together with Felipe, he was strongly and cowardly attacked. Beto said he was inspired by his father who for 20 years dreamed of presiding over the Federal Council of the Bar.

“My commitment is true, real, honest, and loyal to the lawyers of this country. I have spent most of my life living the OAB. The practice of law will receive attention from a management made by lawyers for lawyers”, he said.

Beto will take the place of Felipe Santa Cruz, from Rio de Janeiro. It is not the first time that an Amazonian occupies the presidency of the OAB. According to the former president of OAB Amazonas Marco Aurélio Choy, 40 years ago the lawyer Bernardo Cabral was president of the Order, but he was a counselor of the Rio de Janeiro section.

Commemoration

At the solemnity, Felipe remembered that the position is full of challenges. “We are living in difficult times and everyone here knows it. We are all masked, advisors who should be here and were hospitalized today. The news demands a lot of courage from this house every day, but I know one thing: those who were elected are people who have a commitment to the OAB”, he highlighted.

Felipe said that Beto has a history of service in the house. “Beto is ‘bullet-proof’. He has character, heart, generosity, and the capacity to guide our entity. The Bar Association is in good hands, so Brazilian democracy is too”, said Santa Cruz.

The Federal Counselor for Amazonas José Alberto Simonetti is 43 years old. In the last triennium, he held the position of OAB secretary-general. Simonetti’s slate “OAB de Portas Abertas” was registered with the support of 26 OAB chapters. The main requirement for any lawyer in the country to run for the OAB’s national election is to have the support of at least six state chapters.

Profile

Born in Manaus, Beto Simonetti is a criminal lawyer. He has post-graduate degrees in Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure from the Federal University of Amazonas (Ufam). His law practice is focused, mainly, on the Federal Justice and Superior Courts, such as the Federal Supreme Court (STF) and the Superior Court of Justice (STJ).

Simonetti is married to Carol and father of Beatriz and Bernardo. His father, Alberto Simonetti Cabral Filho, was president of the OAB’s section in Amazonas four times. His brother, Alberto Simonetti Cabral Neto, was federal counselor and also president of the section.

Beto Simonetti is in his fourth term as OAB federal counselor for Amazonas, and in November 2021 he was reelected to start his fifth term in 2022. Throughout these terms, he has played relevant roles in the OAB system, such as general-director of the National School of the Legal Profession, adjunt-general-inspector, general ombudsman of the OAB system, and secretary-general of the Federal Council. He also worked, within the National OAB, for the approval of the project that would become the Law of Abuse of Authority.