Pares integrates Unit Legal on its 15th anniversary
Portuguese law firm Pares has integrated the team of Unit Legal, previously operating under the name Espanha e Associados, in a move announced on the firm’s 15th anniversary. The integration, which took effect on 1 September 2026, brings three partners and ten additional professionals into Pares, reinforcing the firm’s Corporate, Tax and Employment Law practices.
Team integration
The three partners of Unit Legal, Elsa Rodrigues, Rita Beirôco and Luís Almeida Carneiro, joined Pares together with the rest of their team. The move takes Pares’ headcount to more than 60 lawyers. In addition to the partners, the following lawyers and trainee lawyers have joined Pares: Ana Mónica Almeida (senior associate), Filipa Botelho Moniz (senior associate), Mafalda Palma (senior associate), Assunção da Cunha (associate), Carolina Menezes (associate), Margarida Mendes da Mota (associate) and Carlos Pereira Alves (trainee lawyer).
The combination of the two teams is intended to bring together knowledge and skills, strengthening the firm’s capacity to provide legal services across different practice areas. Rather than focusing purely on growth in size, the firms frame the integration as the pursuit of a shared project, states Pares.
Expert commentary
João de Freitas e Costa, managing partner at Pares, commented: “This integration represents a significant reinforcement of our capacity to respond in important areas of our practice, such as Corporate, Tax and Labour Law, but it also means the union of two firms that share the same values, principles and way of practising law.”
Luís Almeida Carneiro added: “Like us, Pares believes in a proximity-based legal practice and teamwork, driven by enthusiasm for the profession and the conviction that together, we are capable of doing more and better for our clients.”
The integration of Unit Legal comes as Pares marks 15 years since its founding, with the firm describing the move as “the start of a new chapter of consolidation and growth built on a broader team and expanded service capacity”.
