Key team members: Pedro Jorge Magalhães, José Vilas Boas, Pedro Esteves Duarte

Team size: Four

Jurisdictions your role covers: Portugal, Spain, France, USA, German and Italy

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

Corticeira Amorim is the largest cork products company in the world and the oldest cork company in the world in continuous operation. It is the clear leader in the sector and has a significant contribution. The company has a presence in almost 30 countries in five continents with 61 distribution companies, and the role of its in-house legal team is absolutely critical to the success of the company.

This team is relatively small but very self-sufficient and multifaceted, working with several lawyers around the world. It handles complex and sophisticated work in the various areas of the law relevant to the work of Corticeira Amorim. The team is composed of first-class legal minds with in-depth technical knowledge and a huge capacity for work, as well as an impressive strategic and perceptive vision of the business world. The clear understanding of the legal framework of the business where the company operates, together with a consistent expertise, are fundamental to find the optimal solution.

What factors influence your team’s decision to use external legal services versus handling matters in-house, and what criteria are used to evaluate their performance?

Competence and prompt responses are key factors for us, when using external legal services.

What are some of the biggest legal or regulatory challenges currently facing your industry, and how is your team preparing to address them?

The new directives related with ESG. We are using several consultants and working together with the sustainability team.