About

Made up of more than 100 companies, Galp Energia is a Portuguese corporation engaged in activities such as renewable energy, natural gas supply, transport, petroleum products exploration and logistics and retailing. The legal team is heavily involved in the organisation’s broad integrated energy activities that stretch internationally from Portugal and Spain to Brazil. Since 2013, the Portuguese legal team is led by general counsel, head of compliance and company secretary Rui de Oliveira Neves, who has over 17 years’ experience covering power, gas and oil affairs. He has been recognised for ‘contributing actively to promoting the development of the Portuguese legal community’ according to a nominating source. The nominator goes on to explain the effect that recent changes and initiatives have had within the legal department: ‘[There has been a] significant turnaround in Galp’s legal department, bringing in-house skilled lawyers and paralegals, setting up a framework for active collaborative working with external lawyers and faculty teachers and implementing professional standards and procedures for in-house counselling’. This approach has allowed the department to lead and coordinate matters in-house, as well as to create a new approach regarding the external lawyers appointed to advise Galp on specific transactions. This in turn allows the team to be more aware of business operations, and transparent about its concerns and goals for the present and future of the company with its stakeholders. Another notable member of the team is head of litigation, Marta Cruz, who is praised for her invaluable insight and input to arbitrary matters, as well as being ‘enthusiastic, positive and an active presence who improves the team with technical knowledge both of the industry at hand and of arbitration’.