Key team members:

Carlos Martins Ferreira, General Counsel

Patrícia Farinha, Senior Legal Counsel

Fernando Gonçalves, Senior Legal Counsel

Helena Morais, Senior Legal Counsel

Joana Peres Machado, Lawyer

Team size: 27 in Portugal and 60 worldwide

Jurisdictions your role covers: Portugal, Poland, Colombia, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Morocco.

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

Even though for an in-house lawyer of a big corporation business as usual is as important as any particular or special project, I would say that the recent entry in two new jurisdictions (Slovakia and Czech Republic) and the establishment of Jerónimo Martins Foundation were some of the most important recent milestones.

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?

The need for specific expertise, specially concerning foreign jurisdictions, is the main factor to decide if a given matter is to be addressed in-house or by external legal services. Also, corporate/business acumen, communication skills, successful outcomes and availability are required from external legal counsel.

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

The ESG/sustainability agenda and the associated national and European Regulation (CSRD, CS3D, EUDR, etc). Addressing these issues from a legal standpoint requires multidisciplinary working groups and specific training.