Forvis Mazars in Portugal: seizing the moment
Filipe Cerqueira Alves, head of legal in Portugal, explains how the firm is developing an autonomous legal practice as the market moves towards integrated professional services
by glória paiva
The entry of Forvis Mazars into the Portuguese legal market, in mid-2024, coincided with the consolidation of a new type of legal practice in the country, linked to multidisciplinarity and large consulting groups. In a context of growing openness in the sector to hybrid structures, the firm has been gaining scale, following a trend already established in other European markets.
At the helm of the project is Filipe Cerqueira Alves, former partner at Cerqueira Alves & Associados and professor at the Catholic University of Portugal, with experience in tax, corporate and contract law. Chosen to lead the launch of the firm, he has been driving its expansion in coordination with the international Forvis Mazars network, which has been present in Portugal for more than two decades. “It is an absolutely mature business by the end of the second year. And I say ‘business’ because this is a way of practising law that has the complementarity of responding to specific metrics and market demands”, he states.
The origin of the project is also rooted in a prior relationship with the Forvis Mazars structure, as Cerqueira Alves & Associados had acted as a reference firm for certain matters. This proximity facilitated the transition to the current model. In two years, the team has grown from two to around ten lawyers, with expectations of reaching 15 professionals as early as next summer.
The firm’s activity is centred on the more traditional areas of multidisciplinary advisory work, with a focus on corporate, M&A and commercial law, which account for more than half of its workload. Litigation — tax, civil and arbitration — represents around 25%, complemented by support areas such as civil and employment law. The aim is to strengthen sectors such as real estate, financial services and infrastructure, in line with the group’s global strategy.
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