Lisbon annual report
Law firms’ future success dependent on ability to
adapt to changing economy
M&A, real estate and finance matters are keeping Portuguese lawyers busy, but the firms that
prosper in the coming years will be those that effectively plan for a new economic landscape
João Vieira de Almeida
While transactional work, as well as
real estate and finance-related matters,
are generating considerable work
for lawyers in Portugal, the key to
law firms’ future success will be the
ability to adjust to the rapidly altering
economic climate, says Vieira de
Almeida, managing partner João Vieira
de Almeida.
He adds that, though the economic
conditions in Portugal have changed
considerably and will continue to
change in the coming years, such
uncertainty will create opportunities
for law firms. However, the ability of
firms to take such opportunities will
be highly dependent on their ability to
properly plan for the future.
“M&A is busy, real estate is busy
and there is a lot of work in the
financial sector, and I assume that’s
going to be the case for the next
few years,” says Vieira de Almeida.
“Overall, we’re doing alright.” He
adds: “The biggest opportunities lie
in the fast-changing landscape – the
economic fabric has changed quite a
bit and it will keep changing in the
foreseeable future.”
Vieira de Almeida is confident
that Lisbon’s law firms are well
positioned to capitalise on such
opportunities. “Portuguese firms
have shown they are able to adapt
and grab those opportunities, but this
will be a challenge as firms will have
to anticipate what will happen to the
economic fabric,” he says. Vieira de
Almeida adds that it will be crucial
that law firms are able to “keep ahead
of events” and ensure they have the
“planning abilities to be on top of
what’s going to happen and be able to
respond”.
Vieira de Almeida says that law
firms in Portugal have already
demonstrated their high degree of
adaptability. “We’ve all evolved to new
business models, as well as adapting to
a whole new environment in terms of
technology and globalization – we need
to adapt and we’re doing that.”
Firms creating industry-focused teams to meet
changing client demand
Maria João Ricou
As client demands change it increasingly
makes sense for large law firms in Portugal
to organise their lawyers into industryfocused teams rather than according
to legal practice areas, says Maria João
Ricou, managing partner of Cuatrecasas,
Gonçalves Pereira in Portugal. “Clients
are increasingly seeking skilled lawyers
who have specialist knowledge of their
particular business – as a result, our firm is
moving away from organising its business
just by legal practice areas”, she says.
This means that besides having
departments such as corporate, finance,
litigation or tax, the firm also has “skilled
lawyers [organised] by industry sector in
each department - this allows us to put in
place multidisciplinary teams organised
by specific sectors of activity,” says Ricou.
She adds: “The concept is that, if there is,
for instance, a real estate client that wants
tax support or finance support, the firm
has tax and finance lawyers with specific
expertise in that particular sector.”
32 • IBERIAN LAWYER • September / October 2016
But while larger firms have an
obvious advantage over smaller firms
in terms of capacity and resources,
implementing this strategy can be a huge
undertaking. “The point of difference
between us and a boutique firm is
that we have many different areas of
expertise,” Ricou explains. “At the end
of the day, developing specialist skills
that can be organised by economic
activity requires critical mass, and
managing knowledge in certain industry
segments within the legal group and
ensuring cross-practice collaboration
is an ongoing challenge.” That said,
Ricou says that Cuatrecasas is already
responding to this trend by setting up
“sector-centred practices that respond
to the clients’ needs in an integrated
manner”. The firm has established such
groups for real estate, aviation, oil &
gas, health and life sciences, energy and
infrastructure, venture capital/start-ups,
and wealth management.
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