DLA Piper ABBC incorporates SM&SB

DLA Piper ABBC has announced the incorporation of SM&SB, led by Paulo Saragoça da Matta and Mário Silveiro de Barros

DLA Piper ABBC has announced the incorporation of SM&SB. The team will be led by partners Paulo Saragoça da Matta (pictured left) and Mário Silveiro de Barros. Five years after joining DLA Piper, the firm led in Portugal by Nuno Azevedo Neves (pictured right) reinforces its position in the market, with the creation of a new Economic Crime and Compliance practice focusing on litigation, public law, labour law and tax law.

Paulo Saragoça da Matta, will become a partner at DLA Piper ABBC and lead the Litigation team. Mário Silveiro de Barros, PhD in the Social Security area and with extensive experience in managing multinational clients, will join DLA Piper ABBC as of counsel in the Labour law team.

“SM&SB is a litigation boutique with a fantastic capability and track record and an enormous recognition in the market, across various areas in litigation, especially in economic criminal matters and compliance. Paulo and Mário are renowned lawyers at a national and international level, who share our vision, strategy, and values, and who bring more value and strength to our already excellent team The merger and integration of SM&SB reinforces DLA Piper ABBC’s position as a global law firm, with a full-service presence in Portugal,” says Nuno Azevedo Neves, country managing partner of DLA Piper ABBC.

Nuno continues: “Top tier clients are looking for a one-stop-shop law firm that allows an integrated offering of services at a geographical level and the benefit of our experience in many jurisdictions where we operate, thus generating more value. Today, we have an excellent litigation and arbitration team, with two partners in whom we strongly believe, but we needed to grow across the board in litigation and to be able to bolster our economic crime and compliance capacity. This reinforcement will make it possible to expand our offering in Portugal, to Portuguese clients in other jurisdictions, and in other regions of official Portuguese language.”

Paulo Saragoça da Matta commented: “The integration with DLA Piper ABBC is aligned with journey so far which has been characterised by sophistication, speed, and discretion. This merger is therefore a natural step with a significant impact on our clients and the range of services that we will now offer, integrated in a global, high-profile office, with which we share the same vision, mission, and ambition.”

He added: “At a time when big firm tend to expel economic criminal law from their structures, DLA Piper ABBC has the vision of doing just the opposite, integrating the latter and the compliance area, a vital area in modern companies, in its range of services.”