As one of the world’s largest nutrition, health and wellness companies, operating in more than 80 countries and with more than 400 factories, Nestlé has been involved in M&As and divestments as part of its growth and creating value. Identified by nominators in this year’s research as ‘an outstanding lawyer with a creative imagination and an in-depth knowledge of several areas of the law’, Ana Patrícia Carvalho is Nestlé Portugal’s head of legal and compliance officer and as part of this role, supports the implementation in Portugal of some of the parent company’s international M&A activities, most notably the joint venture with R&R in ice cream and frozen food with the launch of Froneri and the sale of NWDP, its water cooler business. Carvalho joined Nestlé in 2003, being promoted to head of legal of Nestlé Portugal in 2010 and gaining further responsibility in 2014 by adding the roles of compliance officer and management committee member. She says this selection was a highlight in her career as it allowed her to ‘have a seat at the top table and [be] able to influence the strategic direction of the company by contributing with out-of-the box solutions in challenging moments, leveraging business opportunities and sharing the business risks in the decision-making process’. Carvalho is also recognised for overseeing her team’s ‘intensive work’ to implement a robust compliance program with a strong focus in antitrust, data protection and IP related matters, areas she ensured her team gained expertise in first. Summarising her qualities, nominators had numerous positive comments about Carvalho to share: ‘she handles several critical projects of the company touching different areas of the law at the same time. While doing so, [Carvalho] shows the most remarkable ability to overcome the legal obstacles in order to achieve the commercial goals of the company. She does so with great determination and care. Her capacity to adapt the discourse to a business and legal mind-set is truly remarkable. From our understanding, [Carvalho] is also a great team manager, being able to keep everyone motivated each step of the way. She is an outlier and undoubtedly worthy of this distinction’. She trained at leading law firm PLMJ for five years prior to her move to Nestlé Portugal and between 1999 and 2007 was a lecturer at University Moderna in parallel with her professional role.