Company & Corporate annual report
firms in the Portuguese market,
Abreu Advogados partner Ana
Sofia Batista says that clients still
expect full-service law firms to
have experts in several areas, in
order to cover their global needs.
Meanwhile, the legal arms of the
‘Big Four’ auditors are a “huge
challenge” for mid-market firms in
Portugal, says Paulino. “The ‘Big
Four’ are in a position to be very
competitive in small and midmarket transactions, though their
profile is not so much suited for
bigger deals.”
Closing borders
There are reasons to be optimistic
about prospects for the coming
year because the Portuguese
business sector is better prepared
for attracting investment, according
Spain: What are the biggest challenges currently faced by law firms
operating in the corporate/M&A sector?
“Brexit and the recent election results in the US have produced a great level of
uncertainty. Law firms should anticipate new scenarios arising from both the possible
exit of the UK from the EU, and the likely push for more protectionist economic
policies in the US. These changes could have a significant impact on M&A and the
regulatory and tax sectors.” Adolf Rousaud, managing partner, RCD – Rousaud Costas
Duran
“Client pressure to lower costs is increasing for large law firms, mainly because
clients are frequently approached by other top-tier firms offering aggressive fee
arrangements under the assumption that they will start a new relationship, which will
later lead to more profitable work. Heads of legal in large companies and investment
funds are now more prepared to retain legal services based on price, not brand.”
Pedro Rueda, partner, Araoz & Rueda
“Clients are being more demanding in terms of price. They want law firms to share
the risk in each transaction and this obliges lawyers to design new pricing structures.
Additionally, the clients are using the high competition in the Spanish legal arena to
put more pressure on law firms.” Roberto Pomares, partner, King & Wood Mallesons
“The optimisation of processes concerning commoditised legal work such as research,
discovery, data processing and due diligence reviews. Law firms realise that they
need to integrate artificial intelligence in their business, and find and perfect new
software solutions to automatise such processes. This is a challenge that needs the
continued collaboration and involvement of coders and lawyers and the progressive
implementation and testing of such solutions in the legal business.” Teresa Zueco,
partner, DLA Piper
“How to master the high level of regulation and legislation, how to compete with
skilled legal firms and also with consultancy firms that offer a full range of services
with large teams in a tight and competitive cost environment.” Curra Munuera,
partner, CMS Albiñana & Suárez de Lezo
“The challenges are still the slow economic recovery, money laundering regulations
and the bureaucratic burden for foreigners investing in our country.” Maite Cerezo
Montañez, partner, Montero Aramburu Abogados
“Fee pressure and how to differentiate ourselves from our peers. We feel that
specialisation, client service and an ‘out of the box’ approach to legal issues is the
correct recipe to address such challenges.” Íñigo Erláiz, partner, Gómez-Acebo &
Pombo
30 • IBERIAN LAWYER • November / December 2016
to Paulino. However, he adds that
the concern is that there is a global
trend to “close borders” and this
could have an impact on “open
economies”. Another partner
adds that the increasing trend for
protectionism in various parts of
the world “doesn’t help the global
economy”. Meanwhile, Barona
says he is optimistic about banking
restructuring in Portugal, but adds
it is a concern that there are huge
non-performing loans that need
to be restructured, and it is not yet
clear how they will be restructured.
Francisco Brito e Abreu, partner
at Uría Menéndez-Proença de
Carvalho, says the continued
interest of international investors in
Portugal is cause for optimism, but
this is tempered by global economic
instability. However, he adds
that law firms are becoming more
efficient and do more in terms of
monitoring how much time lawyers
spend handling work.
Finally, political changes around
the world are causing concern
among lawyers. As one partner
puts it: “I’m pessimistic about
stupid political decisions, such as
Brexit – free trade was taken for
granted, but then stupid political
decisions are an opportunity
for lawyers, when rules are
implemented, we can help the client
get around them.” Meanwhile,
PLMJ partner Maria João Ribeiro
Mata says that, while 2016 was
slower than 2015 with regard to
deals (in terms of the number of
transactions, rather than the value),
she is confident that Portugal will
be more stable from a political point
of view in the coming year and
that will attract investors and boost
M&A. Speaking at an Iberian Lawyer
Corporate and M&A Roundtable
prior to the result of the US
election, Ribeiro Mata anticipated
a victory for the Republican Party
candidate Donald Trump and
said that this was her biggest
concern as she believes the Trump
presidency could have a “negative
impact on foreign investment
in Europe and, specifically,
investment in Portugal”.
www.iberianlawyer.com