Lisbon annual report
Lisbon lawyers boosted by activity in the finance , real estate and tourism sectors
Significant investment in the financial , real estate and tourism sectors set to continue , while clients ’ data protection concerns increase
Finance , real estate and tourism are the sectors that are currently generating the most significant opportunities for law firms in Portugal , according to PLMJ managing partner Luis Pais Antunes .
“ The financial sector is an important market for legal activity , along with everything related to real estate and tourism ,” he says . “ There is a lot of investment in those sectors and that will remain so in the next few years .” In addition , data protection issues are becoming a key concern for clients , according to Pais Antunes . He adds that , in this context , “ there is a clear trend in Portugal for significant support for start-ups and innovation ”.
Pais Antunes says there are three key challenges currently facing law firms . “ The first one is adapting ourselves to the environment ,” he explains . “ We live in an environment of uncertainty at a national and international level and this creates difficulties for the legal profession .”
Pais Antunes says the second key challenge is the need for law firms to adapt the way they manage lawyers . “ Needs are different and it ’ s a big challenge for law firms to manage lawyers ’ careers ,” he says . Pais Antunes adds that the third challenge is focusing on the evolving economy and issues relating to new technology .
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Good yields in real estate market attracting investors
Good yields in the Portuguese real estate market , along with growth in the tourism sector are generating a significant amount of work for lawyers , according to Duarte Garin , managing partner of Uría Menéndez-Proença de Carvalho in Lisbon .
“ Right now , the Portuguese market is being driven by three sectors – real estate , banking and tourism ,” he says . “ Real estate , in particular , has been one of the main drivers for our firm over the last 12 months .” Garin adds that such activity is not just confined to tourism , or foreigners acquiring properties for nonhabitual resident tax purposes , but also commercial real estate-related business . “ There are now hotels popping up like mushrooms – in fact , many owners of small buildings want to convert them into boutique hotels ,” he says .
Regarding the reasons for such activity , Garin believes that aside from Portugal ’ s current “ trendy status ”, there are several other factors at play . “ Despite significant growth , it ’ s becoming more difficult for investors to acquire real estate in Europe as the yields have compressed too much ,” he says . “ Compared to other European countries though , Portugal still has some interesting yields .”
Furthermore , while Portugal echoes Spain in terms of real-estate activity being mainly confined to the high-end of the market – that is , international investors trying to acquire core properties in a good location with quality tenants – unlike its neighbour , Portugal is focused on existing properties and has not had to deal with the effects of a burst property bubble . “ Portugal has always had a much smaller housing market ,” says Garin . “ The property demand was never the same as it was Spain , where you were anticipating the demand would just continue for a couple of years , only to wake up with a stockpile of never-ending houses .”
Duarte Garin
www . iberianlawyer . com September / October 2016 • IBERIAN LAWYER • 33