Pérez-Llorca to open an office in Abu Dhabi in 2026
Pérez-Llorca has announced plans to open an office in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in 2026, within the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). The new office will be led by Gonçalo Capela Godinho (pictured), currently country chair of the firm’s Lisbon office. In Lisbon, Carlos Vaz de Almeida will assume the role of managing partner, with Inês Arruda and Adolfo Mesquita Nunes serving as country co-chairs.
With an international profile and experience advising clients on complex cross-border transactions, Capela Godinho will lead the firm’s establishment in the region and drive the development of institutional and commercial relationships. Two Pérez-Llorca associates will initially relocate to Abu Dhabi alongside him.
“The decision forms part of the firm’s international strategy and responds to a structural shift in global capital flows. Institutional and private investors based in the Gulf have increasingly assumed a prominent role in financing and acquiring assets in jurisdictions such as the Iberian Peninsula, Latin America and Portuguese-speaking African countries”, states the law firm.
Abu Dhabi: a strategic investment hub
According to Pérez-Llorca, the future Abu Dhabi office is conceived as a platform for relationship-building, deal origination and transaction execution, designed to support Gulf-based investors in overseas investment projects. It will work closely with the teams in Spain, Portugal, Mexico and Colombia, as well as with the firm’s Lusophone Africa practice coordinated from Lisbon. The new office will also operate in an integrated manner with Pérez-Llorca’s other international offices, including London, New York, Brussels and Singapore.
The presence in Abu Dhabi is not intended to develop a local Middle East law practice: rather, it seeks to strengthen the firm’s proximity to sources of international capital investing in markets where Pérez-Llorca has the capacity to deliver local law advice directly, ensuring an integrated approach, states the law firm.
According to Gonçalo Capela Godinho, partner and leader of the project, “opening an office in Abu Dhabi allows us to be closer to investors who have been playing an increasingly important role in transactions in the Iberian Peninsula, Latin America and Lusophone Africa. This is a step that is fully aligned with our strategy of orderly growth and with our vocation to advise on complex cross-border transactions, combining proximity to clients with direct legal execution in the relevant jurisdictions.”
Consolidation of the Iberian project
At the same time, Pérez-Llorca reaffirms its intention to keep deveping its Portoguese project. The Lisbon office has expanded substantially in its first two years, both financially and in terms of headcount, achieving a solid foothold in the Portuguese legal market, states the law firm. More than 60 professionals currently work in the Lisbon office, with 14 partners. With a new leadership to come, a new management structure has been defined in Lisbon, based on a managing partner with executive functions and two country co-chairs.
“We are extremely grateful to Gonçalo for his work over these years in Lisbon, as he hands over the management of the office to three outstanding professionals. We believe that this new structure strengthens the firm’s commitment to Portugal as a long-term strategic project and reflects our determination to continue driving sustainable growth, supported by well-established teams and strong technical excellence”, said Pedro Pérez-Llorca, managing partner of Pérez-Llorca.
“I thank the management team for the trust placed in me and take on this appointment with the same sense of responsibility and enthusiasm, at a particularly important moment for the project and for the firm’s ambitions and high standards”, said Carlos Vaz de Almeida, appointed managing partner in Lisbon.
International approach
Pérez-Llorca’s international expansion began in 2015 with the opening of offices in London and New York, continued with Brussels and was consolidated with Singapore. This strategy was further strengthened in 2024 with Pérez-Llorca’s entry into the Mexican legal market and in 2025 into the Colombian market.
“We are extremely proud of everything we are building internationally. We are progressing faster than expected with our strategy, which encourages us to continue expanding our international project — not only to support our clients in their transactions, litigation and regulatory matters, but also to provide our talent with opportunities to develop in an international environment”, said Iván Delgado, international executive partner at Pérez-Llorca.
