Innovative structuring

PLMJ has gone for a radical year-end shake up of its management structure. The firm has approved a new governance model and Manuel Santos Vítor has been elected as sole Managing Partner for the next three years.

Luís Sáragga Leal takes the role of Chairman, and Santos Vítor will be supported by a non-executive board including José Miguel Júdice, Nuno Líbano Monteiro, Jorge Brito Pereira and Tomás Pessanha.
Following in the footsteps of some very brilliant lawyers, says Santos Vítor, is an enormous responsibility. “I hope to live up to the trust that PLMJ has placed in me and in the board and this new governance model.”
This model removes the distinction between equity and salaried partners, and integrates PLMJ’s International Legal Network lawyers into the partnership via a new ‘International Career’ path. This makes it possible for lawyers outside of Portugal to join its career structure – Tomás Timbane, for example, a Partner at Gabinete Legal Moçambique, part of the PLMJ International Legal Network, has been elected as an international partner.
One of the first Portuguese firms to introduce such changes, whether the new year will see others follow suit, remains to be seen.