Homero Costa Advogados

Fundamar

Homero Costa Advogados law firm supports and sponsors a Social Project – FUNDAMAR – Fundação 18 de Março, created in 1978 by Teresinha Prado Costa and Túlio Vieira da Costa, a non-profit non-governmental organization, which, among other things, aims to stimulate education in the rural zone and social service, recognized for its voluntary work by  150 entities in Brazil. It is worth clarifying that FUNDAMAR- Fundação 18 de Março came about as a project from the Legal Assistance Department of Homero Costa Advogados law firm.

For this reason, since FUNDAMAR’s foundation, in its limited scope of  activity and resources, it has helped the state bytocreate conditions for the assistance of needy individuals and legal entities in a non-profit capacity.

FUNDAMAR was initially thought out  to merely plug a gap in legal assistance, limited to aid  the needy. Therefore, in cooperation with Homero Costa Advogados law firm, the idea was made formal in 1978 and continues until now.

It is up to Homero Costa Advogados  to provide legal assistance voluntarily to people referred from the Foundation.

FUNDAMAR also awards study and maintenance grants to underprivileged young people, at technical levels, on undergraduate  and graduate courses in areas where the Foundation operates. It also sets up  and develops self-sustaining social projects in rural areas of Minas Gerais, through the organization of integrated education cores that encompass formal, pre-professionalizing teaching, as well as health, food, culture and leisure.

FUNDAMAR also runs other projects, such as the Fazenda Escola FUNDAMAR (Fundamar School Farm) which serves more than 500 children in the rural zone of Paraguaçu, south of Minas, preservation of the Amílcar de Castro Library archive, organization of the Carlos Lacerda Archive Fund, the Homero Costa Library, among others.

The words of Homero Costa on the Project

So: - Once upon a time there was a young lawyer, Túlio Vieira da Costa, married to Terezinha Prado Costa, from whose union four children were born, and who had a degree in his hand and a law firm fully equipped to receive him. The firm was set up in Machado, MG, in 1918, founded by his father, Homero Paulino da Costa.

Then he had a dream...

He dreamed of transforming that well grounded and reputable but modest firm into a large office that would not only work on lawsuits in Belo Horizonte but also those from other capitals, never forgetting about legal assistance for those less privileged, today known as “pro bono” work, legal practice for good, community lawyering. Ultimately, a firm that would be a reference point.

The dream was in 1947. 20 years later, in 1967, the dream came true with offices based in an upmarket area of Belo Horizonte, representatives in several capitals and a strong presence in São Paulo. Its guardian angels were Noé Azevedo, President of the OAB/SP and José Martins Pinheiro Neto, of Pinheiro Neto Advogados law firm, both from São Paulo. Before, in Belo Horizonte, there were Homero Paulino Costa and Euler Salles Coelho, the latter a very special fairy who appeared to the young lawyer in order to unveil a long and paved path to the practicing of his profession. 

FUNDAMAR, the second dream, as it came to be, is a result of this first one and of the fruitful work of these people who created and maintained it up until now. Many people!

Túlio Vieira da Costa, CEO of FUNDAMAR, substituted in 2001, was at the forefront of the institution for nearly 25 years. He was a Conselour in the Board of Trustees until 09.09.2013, date of his passing.