Clients should understand that a credible Brussels connection can offer much more than merely a route for solving legal issues, says Ramón Garcia-Gallardo, managing partner of the Brussels office of SJ Berwin and Head of its Spanish Competition Practice.
The Portuguese economy is proving no more immune to the global financial crisis than any other in Europe but its effects may not be as dramatic as elsewhere, say lawyers. The country’s economy was hardly in overdrive and therefore a “hard landing” is not expected. Nonetheless law firms in Lisbon are preparing for all eventualities.
Portugal’s banks have proved no more immune to the global financial crisis as elsewhere in Europe, but the Government has responded with a series of pragmatic measures, says Pedro Ferreira Malaquias of Uria Menéndez in Lisbon.
Iberian investors continue to seek out and find opportunities across Central and Eastern Europe, with many utilising Romania and Poland as regional gateways, say Paulo Alexandre Matinha and Alexandra Pereira dos Reis in the newly opened Bucharest and Warsaw offices of Raposo Bernardo.
The recent Portuguese State Budget for 2009 has reversed the controversial introduction in 2007 of new taxation aimed at swap transactions. The result, say Pedro Cardigos and Sofia Caetano of Cardigos & Associados, is a return to a more pragmatic appraisal of swap schemes and of double taxation treaties.
The enactment in Portugal of a new Public Contracts Code (PCC) has dramatically altered regulation surrounding major public projects and procurement in the country, says João Amaral e Almeida, partner at Sérvulo & Associados, one of the authors of the reform.
January will see the introduction in Portugal of a new Labour Code, which will improve the ability of employers to adapt to the changing economic situation and demand for their services and products, but without having to take dramatic steps such as collective dismissals, says Benjamin Mendes, partner at ABBC.
The development of full service law firms in Portugal has, in recent years, helped contribute to a reduction in the size of in-house legal departments but it is a trend that looks likely to change as Portuguese companies rediscover the value in building a strong in-house team, say Filipa Mendes Pinto and Maria Brito Goes […]
Iberian Lawyer´s first Portuguese regional survey finds Porto´s leading firms developing new opportunities, increasing both their regional and international connections.
The perception of Madeira as merely a cruise and tourist destination, and a producer of wine, belies its position as Portugal’s third largest economic region, and of its capital, Funchal, as a conduit for international investment into the European Union (EU), says Miguel Teixeira de Abreu, managing partner of Abreu Advogados.
