Pérez-Llorca has taken another step in its internationalisation and establishment in Lisbon, reinforcing its team of professionals in this office with the addition of four new partners. This means that the firm has achieved full capacity to accompany its clients in their corporate transactions and to be able to advise them on all possible legal angles related to commercial law.
The news of these appointments comes a month after the firm announced the addition of six partners for the Corporate/M&A, Banking & Finance, Energy & Infrastructure, Capital Markets, Employment, Compensation and Benefits, Regulatory and Competition practices, and just three months after it announced its intention to operate in Lisbon with its own office and team practising Portuguese law.
With these new partners, who will be coordinated by Gonçalo Capela Godinho, Pérez-Llorca’s Lisbon office will have more than 25 professionals specialised in different areas of corporate law.
Adolfo Mesquita Nunes joins Pérez-Llorca’s Lisbon office as a Public and Regulatory Law partner from a Portuguese firm, where he co-headed this area alongside Débora Melo Fernandes. With more than 20 years of practice, he has focused his activity on the areas of public policy, public procurement, regulation and administrative litigation. Nunes is Lead Independent Director and Vice-chairman of the Board of Directors of Galp Energia, a member of the Centro de Arbitragem Administrativa (CAAD)’s arbitration panel, and visiting professor at the Nova School of Business and Economics and the Nova School of Law.
Débora Melo Fernandes also joins Pérez-Llorca’s Lisbon office as a partner in the Public and Regulatory Law practice. Fernandes has worked in leading law firms and was, until now, co-head of the Public and Regulatory Law area of a Portuguese law firm alongside Adolfo Mesquita Nunes. She has extensive experience in advising domestic and international companies in highly regulated sectors such as mobility, energy and telecommunications, as well as on major matters related to the preparation and execution of public contracts. She represents public and private entities in their litigation before administrative courts and in arbitration proceedings, and is an arbitrator at the Centro de Arbitragem Administrativa (CAAD). She is also a founder of the Associação de Direito Administrativo (ADA) and an ambassador for ‘Women in ESG’.
Evo Fernandes developed his professional career in international law firms and, prior to joining Pérez-Llorca, was a member of the real estate department of the Lisbon office of a British law firm. His practice focuses on advising domestic and foreign investors, such as financial institutions, investment funds and private equity funds, on property purchase and sale transactions, real estate development projects and real estate asset management, specifically in the tourism, office, logistics, shopping centre, residential and alternative residential sectors. He also has extensive experience in the acquisition of REO and NPL portfolios, the acquisition of renewable energy projects, sale and leaseback transactions, leasing transactions and real estate due diligence exercises.
Susana Estêvão Gonçalves has forged her career in Portuguese and international law firms and, until joining Pérez-Llorca, she was a tax partner in the Lisbon office of a Spanish law firm. She has extensive experience in tax advice on domestic and international investments, tax structuring of M&A transactions in sectors such as energy, infrastructure and real estate, financial and private equity transactions, as well as corporate restructurings. In addition, she specialises in international corporate taxation, including transfer pricing, permanent establishment and taxation of cross-border flows. She also provides ongoing advice on the structuring of personal and family assets and on tax audits and litigation.
“Our plan in Portugal is solid and ambitious. Our intention is to continue growing and, with the additions to the firm announced today, our Lisbon office has a team of professionals capable of assisting our clients with all the legal aspects required in a commercial transaction,” says Gonçalo Capela Godinho, coordinating partner of the firm’s Lisbon office. “At Pérez-Llorca we aim to become one of the leading law firms in the Iberian Peninsula and our strategy to achieve this is to bring together the best professionals, partners, lawyers and business services staff to build this office and provide the best service in the market to our clients,” Godinho stressed.