Deloitte Legal and Telles to merge in Portugal

Deloitte Legal and Telles will move forward with a merger in Portugal, with Francisco Espregueira Mendes, head of Telles, as managing partner, and Mónica Moreira, head of Deloitte Legal, as vice-president. Carlos Lucena, founding partner of Telles, will also support the new management as a consultant. The news was reported by the Portuguese newspaper Expresso and confirmed by Iberian Lawyer.

The transaction will result in the creation of Deloitte Legal & Telles, aiming to strengthen its presence in areas such as technology and artificial intelligence, while offering a full range of global services. The new firm will start with a total of 240 lawyers and more than 5,000 individual and corporate clients.

The integration has not yet been completed, and the formation of the new firm is expected to conclude in 2026. In Portugal, Deloitte has an annual turnover of €385 million and 5,300 employees, with offices in Faro, Lisbon, Coimbra, Porto, Viseu and Braga. Deloitte Legal has 60 lawyers and annual revenues of around €7 million. Telles has about 150 lawyers and 27 partners, with an annual turnover of approximately €19 million and offices in the Algarve, Lisbon and Porto.

The deal falls within the framework of the European directive that authorizes and regulates multidisciplinary practices, transposed into Portuguese law in 2013. In April 2024, the Statute of the Bar Association lifted the ban that prohibited lawyers from practicing and participating in multidisciplinary firms.

Since then, EY Law began operations in Lisbon in November, while the former CTSU and CCR Legal announced their rebranding as Deloitte Legal and PwC Legal, respectively, fully embracing their ties to the two global multi-service firms. Morais Leitão and PLMJ have also announced their shift to a multidisciplinary model, appointing non-lawyer partners to their structures.

On the picture, Francisco Espregueira Mendes and Mónica Moreira.