Sofia Galvao Advogados > Lisbon, Portugal > Firm Profile
Sofia Galvao Advogados Offices
RUA NOVA DA TRINDADE, 1-4 D
1200-301 LISBOA
Portugal
Sofia Galvao Advogados > The Legal 500 Rankings
Portugal > Planning law Tier 1
'One of the best firms in Portugal', boutique Sofia Galvao Advogados is home to ‘experts in the areas of urban and spatial planning’. The group plays a pivotal role in high-profile developments across Portugal, including office buildings, airports, and tourist resorts. Founder Sofia Galvão is a leading authority in the market, standing out for her expertise in land and maritime spatial planning, real estate, and construction law. Luís Moitinho de Almeida complements the practice with his comprehensive view of planning, environment, licensing, and litigation matters relating to territorial law. Co-founder Hugo Nunes departed in May 2023.Practice head(s):
Sofia Galvão; Luís Moitinho de Almeida
Testimonials
‘Sofia Galvão and Luís Moitinho de Almeida are experts in the areas of urban and spatial planning. The firm is one of the best firms in Portugal.’
Key clients
Bedrock Capital
Comissão Técnica Independente
Eastbanc
Fundação Champalimaud
Grupo Pestana
Jackyl
Metropolitano de Lisboa, EPE
Primosfera
Smartenergy
Stone Capital
Status Capital
Tidewell Corporation
Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Work highlights
- Assisted Comissão Técnica Independente in planning matters for the new Lisbon airport, studying various sites to aid in government decision-making regarding the airport’s location.
- Assisted the Champalimaud Foundation with the development of its Botton-Champalimaud Pancreatic Cancer Centre, an expansion project creating a new wing dedicated to the world’s first pancreatic cancer research and treatment center.
- Assisted UCP in planning and real estate matters, focusing on resolving a hold-up in a Sintra urban development project and developing the North Side of its Lisbon Campus (Campus Veritati) for state-of-the-art economics and business college facilities.
Portugal > Real estate and construction Tier 3
Sofia Galvao Advogados, a boutique firm specialising in real estate and planning, provides strategic advice to institutional investors seeking development opportunities within Portugal, including expert guidance in the structuring of real estate transactions. The practice is co-led by founding partner Sofia Galvão, whose deep expertise in real estate, spatial planning, and tourism law is recognised in the market. Fellow co-head Luís Moitinho de Almeida is experienced in all areas of territory law, encompassing real estate, construction, licensing matters, and related litigation. Hugo Nunes left the firm in May 2023.Practice head(s):
Sofia Galvão; Luís Moitinho de Almeida
Testimonials
‘The company is very robust and highly reputable in everything to do with territorial law and support for real estate transactions.’
‘Sofia Galvão’s experience is perhaps unparalleled, associated with enormous knowledge based on experience.’
‘The service provided by this law firm in matters of urban planning and spatial planning has proven to be of excellent quality and help, given the lawyers’ in-depth knowledge of these matters.’
‘Sofia Galvão stands out for her in-depth knowledge of matters and applicable legislation and for the innovative way in which she handles dossiers, suggesting solutions not yet taken into consideration by the client.’
Key clients
Atenor
Bedrock Capital (Alcântara)
ECS Capital Group (Grupo NAU & Vale do Lobo)
European Parliament
Fundação Champalimaud
Grupo Novo Banco (Benagil, Artilharia Um & Av. Liberdade)
Grupo Pestana
Jackyl (Suíça)
Mondego Capital Partners
Tidewell Corporation (Apostiça)
Universidade Católica Portuguesa (Campus Lisboa)
Sofia Galvao Advogados > Firm Profile
Sofia Galvão Advogados (SGA) is a boutique law firm, founded in 2014, which dedicates to the territory, focused on supporting the implementation and development of economic activities on land and at sea.
SGA has its distinctive feature in the integrated approach of real estate and planning, and has been able to establish itself as a recognized go-to firm (namely in major real estate transactions and planning instructions), filling what was a gap in Portuguese legal services panorama: a partner based boutique law firm, with very solid (and acknowledged) real estate and planning expertise, that is able to present an integrated view of deals, whether they are of a “classic” real estate model (eg, assets with a running cash flow or a sale and leaseback transaction) or require a prospective, strategy-oriented approach (eg, development deals or urban renewal deals).
Main Contacts
| Department | Name | Telephone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Land and maritime spatial planning | Sofia Galvão | ||
| Land and maritime spatial planning | Hugo Nunes | ||
| Tourism | Sofia Galvão | ||
| Tourism | Hugo Nunes | ||
| EU funds | Sofia Galvão | ||
| EU funds | Hugo Nunes | ||
| Ports | Sofia Galvão | ||
| Ports | Hugo Nunes | ||
| Public procurement | Sofia Galvão | ||
| Public procurement | Luís Moitinho de Almeida | ||
| Real estate | Sofia Galvão | ||
| Real estate | Hugo Nunes | ||
| Environment | Sofia Galvão | ||
| Construction | Sofia Galvão | ||
| Construction | Hugo Nunes | ||
| Litigation | Hugo Nunes | ||
| Litigation | Luís Moitinho de Almeida | ||
| Administrative concessions | Sofia Galvão | ||
| Administrative concessions | Luís Moitinho de Almeida |
Lawyer Profiles
| Photo | Name | Position | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Dra Sofia Galvão | Sofia is Partner and founding member of Sofia Galvao Advogados, a boutique… | View Profile |
|
Dr Luís Moitinho de Almeida | Luís is member (since 2015), and Partner (since October 2020) of Sofia… | View Profile |
|
Dr Hugo Nunes | Hugo is Partner and founding member of Sofia Galvão Advogados, a boutique… | View Profile |
Staff Figures
Number of lawyers : 10Languages
English French Italian Portuguese SpanishOther
Other offices : LisbonClient Testimonials
CLIENT: Frederico Pedro Nunes – Head of Development of Grupo Novobanco Real Estate
COMPANY/FIRM: Grupo Novobanco Real Estate
TESTIMONIAL: As a matter of context, as part of my role at Grupo Novobanco Real Estate, I have been a client from Sofia, Hugo and Luis Moitinho since 2017, dealing with highly complex development projects. Sofia Galvão’s team are a highly dedicated group of lawyers offering a powerful combination of strong urban law knowledge and relevant experience on the ground, topped with a practical approach to client’s challenges, making them a winning team when dealing with real estate, urban law and environmental matters. Also, I would like to stress their commitment to long standing clients, creating a true partnership.
CLIENT: Gonçalo Laia Fernandes – Director of ECS Capital
COMPANY/FIRM: ECS Capital
TESTIMONIAL: As a matter of context, as part of my role at ECS Capital, I have been a client from Sofia, Hugo and Luis Moitinho since 2016. Sofia Galvão’s team are a highly dedicated group of lawyers offering a powerful combination of strong urban law knowledge and relevant experience on the ground, topped with a practical approach to client’s challenges, making them a winning team when dealing with real estate and urban law matters. Also, I would like to highly their commitment to long standing clients, creating a true partnership.
CLIENT: Javier Catena Gordo – Real Estate Director of ECI Spain| Enrique Hidalgo Miralles – General Director of ECI Portugal
COMPANY/FIRM: El Corte Inglés (“ECI”)
TESTIMONIAL: From Spain, it is essential to have a trust-worthy expert on the field who transmits with clarity the status of business, whilst conveying the little details which make a difference in an operation. For my business, working with this Law Firm means a guarantee of reliability and effectiveness, especially in juridically complex matters such as those related to urbanism. We would like to highlight the professionalism, patience and empathy of Hugo Nunes with whom we have worked in extremely complicated operations. In those complex situations, Hugo is always able to provide creative solutions.
CLIENT: John Dwyer – Chief Executive Officer of CostaTerra (Discovery Land Company)
COMPANY/FIRM: CostaTerra | Discovery Land Company
TESTIMONIAL: CostaTerra’s relationship with Sofia Galvao, and Hugo Nunes started in 2018, at the inception of the acquisition process, and progressed through DD, Vesting, early sales and eventual conveyancing. Hugo and his Team, underwrote our confidence in the acquisition, through their extensive DD work, clearly set out in logical easily consumable opinions and narrative, with concise risk analysis and associated mitigation measures. Hugo’s composed, methodical and botom-up approach, endorses credibility, and promotes open and positive dialogue from all stake holders. The rules, regulations, and nuances of our project were scripted to protect the unique location, respect the local community, and be “of the place”. A particular, and very valuable characteristic of Hugo’s Team, is the instinct to give commercial intuitive advices, without just quoting legislation. An invaluable and time saving trait.
CLIENT: Walter van Damme – President of Fosun Hive
COMPANY/FIRM: Fosun Hive
TESTIMONIAL: Sofia Galvão is beyond any doubt one of the most professional and skilled real estate lawyers in Portugal. This holds for real estate matters in general, and more particular for any matters related to planning and licensing. Over the years, I had the opportunity to work with Sofia and her team in various dynamic and complex issues and she consistently performed by following a clear strategy and delivered the results as promised. Her approach is holistic, strategic, business-minded, no-nonsense, pragmatic and results driven. She combines superior professional skills with strong communication skills, driving the points in clear terms to the essence. She says what she does and does what she says, which nowadays unfortunately has become a rarity.
- Planning law
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Real estate and construction