The Legal 500

‘Without a doubt at the top,’ Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados remains the most prominent firm in Oporto, with capabilities in numerous areas. As ‘one of the best lawyers in the country’, the ‘outstanding’ Carlos Osório de Castro excels on corporate deals and capital markets work, and in 2010 advised Teixeira Duarte on its €970m sale of a stake in Cimpor to Camargo Corrêa. Eduardo Verde Pinho is also recommended for his business acumen in corporate work. The group’s telecoms experts regularly advise Sonaecom Group. Joaquim Vieira Peres is the primary contact for complex EU and competition work, and acts for ZON TV Cabo Portugal and Sonae Investimentos. António Lobo Xavier is highly recommended for tax work, and is advising Barclays Capital on an intragroup financing project worth €1.7bn.

PLMJ Law Firm’s highly rated Oporto practice focuses on litigation including arbitration, as well as M&A, public and employment law. Notable highlights include representing 72 employees regarding a collective dismissal from Hitzemann, and advising Amorim Holding Financeira on its R$150m stake in the incorporation of a bank in Brazil. Oil Investments, Porto City Vista and Securitas Transport Aviation are also clients of the firm. Office head Tomás Pessanha is ‘excellent’, and José Ricardo Gonçalves and Frederico Perry Vidal are also recommended. Arbitration expert Manuel Cavaleiro Brandão joined the firm in 2009.

The ‘very good team’ at Telles de Abreu e Associados – Sociedade de Advogados RL features several key individuals in Oporto, including Luís Telles de Abreu, Carlos Lucena, and Miguel Carvalho. The ten-strong office has experience in public law and litigation, and also advises on employment, real estate, tax and corporate law. The firm enjoys an excellent reputation and acts for many longstanding clients from the region and beyond.

Uría Menéndez – Proença de Carvalho’s 11-strong Oporto offering has a strong reputation regionally, and can call upon the firm’s wide network of contacts to offer a broad range of services. Office head João Anacoreta Correia handles restructuring and insolvency work, and acted for Damm on its €16m acquisition of an insolvent Portuguese brewery. The team is advising Rádio Televisão Portuguesa on employment law, and providing tax advice to Barclays’ Portuguese branch. On the contentious side, the firm represented Cespa in a case against the Municipality of Matosinhos relating to taxes on crude oil pipelines.

Abreu Advogados’ ‘very committed’ Oporto team is praised for its persistence and dedication to achieving the best results, and is steadily increasing its scope. On the commercial side, Paulo de Tarso Domingues is ‘well respected for his knowledge’, while Maria Dulce Soares has ‘a full understanding of corporate tax matters’ and ‘wonderful insight’. Rui Peixoto Duarte represents real estate promoter Adicais and chocolate producer Imperial, while Nuno Barbosa advises on public tenders and real estate agreements. The group has experience in tax litigation, acting for Iberotel, Semapa, Frulact and Secil.

Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira’s 25-strong practice advises clients across practice areas including tax, corporate and M&A, and employment matters. Recent clients include Probiomass – Biomass and EDP Gestão da Produção de Energia. Practice head José de Freitas is highly recommended, but Isabel Gião de Andrade moved to Vieira de Almeida & Associados in 2010.

Garrigues Portugal, SL – Sucursal operates a broad service from its Oporto office, and is particularly well known for the depth of its tax expertise. The firm counts many major Portuguese companies as key clients, and is advising an energy company on tax issues relating to a hydroelectric energy project. Miguel Reis leads the practice, and is consistently rated very highly by clients. The group’s restructuring expertise has earned it involvement in the €30m restructuring of Rádio Popular.

José Pedro Aguiar-Branco’s large team at JPAB – José Pedro Aguiar-Branco & Associados, RL has a strong employment law focus, but also increasingly advises clients on litigation, energy, sports and public law issues. Pedro Botelho Gomes is recommended for his excellent employment advice and Paulo Cutileiro Correia has a growing reputation for labour-related cases.

Taveira da Fonseca & Associados has particular expertise in arbitration and litigation, as well as employment, public and corporate law matters. Name partner Joaquim Taveira da Fonseca is highly respected and has substantial experience.

Vieira de Almeida & Associados’ Oporto office was boosted by the arrival of Isabel Gião de Andrade from Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira, who now heads up the team. The group provides ‘the highest level of service’ and has ‘good knowledge in many areas’, including corporate, tax, finance and competition law. The team acts for PME Investimentos on transactions made through investment fund FACCE, and is advising Amtrol-Alfa, a subsidiary of gas cylinder manufacturer Amtrol Group, on its supply and distribution network. Frederico Gonçalves Pereira advised Banco Comercial Português on two insolvency matters, together worth €33m. Senior associate Joana Domingues is also recommended.

Amorim & Associados – Sociedade de Advogados, R.L. was founded in 2009, and has ‘impressive business acumen coupled with in-depth knowledge’. The firm focuses on construction, corporate and public law, and was founded by former Vieira de Almeida & Associados Oporto office head Tiago Amorim, who is a ‘very strong, honest and professional’ lawyer with a ‘pragmatic and proactive approach to finding a creative solution’. The firm counts Conduril and Bridge Engineering Research and Design among its clients.

Vitor Marques da Cruz heads FCB&A – F Castelo Branco & Associados’ Oporto office, which is closely integrated with the firm in Lisbon. Its strengths on the corporate side attract clients such as Banco Espírito Santo and Banif. The group also acts for developers, including Casais and Sardinha & Leite, and is assisting an Irish investment group on the €110m acquisition of three commercial and residential buildings in Oporto. Associate Susana Proença is recommended.

‘One of the original Oporto firms,’ Silva Lopes, Pessanha, Mesquita, Costa Leite has a ‘very, very good’ reputation in the market. Pedro Pessanha is recommended, alongside Francisco Costa Leite and José Manuel Silva Lopes. The nine-strong team has a broad spread of experience across practice areas from construction and employment to corporate and litigation.