PLMJ, Abreu and VdA nominated for Financial Times awards

PLMJ, Abreu Advogados and VdA have been nominated for a reputed international award for innovation in the Legal sector: the FT Innovative Lawyers Europe 2021

Abreu was selected as a finalist in the category of “Social justice and the Rule of Law” for its project developed in partnership with the blog “Dyslexia Day by Day”, which has been contributing to inclusive education for dyslexic children at school. This partnership, created on a pro bono basis, has been developed by a team coordinated by partner Alexandra Courela and senior associate Madalena Bernardes Coelho. It was also composed of senior associates André Modesto Pinheiro and Maria Cabral de Azevedo, associate lawyer João da Cunha Empis and trainee lawyer João Soares Carvalho.

PLMJ was shortlisted in the Practice of Law: Aviation category. This refers to PLMJ advising TAP on navigating the airline’s crisis, aggravated by the pandemic caused by COVID-19. The consultancy provided to the airline involved two challenges: in a first phase, accessing financing of €1.2 billion with a State guarantee, ensuring compliance with the rules of the European Commission and, in a second phase, supporting the shareholder TAP’s private equity firm, Atlantic Gateway, on the sale of its 22.5% stake to the Portuguese State. The operation brought together a multidisciplinary team with the participation of the areas of Corporate M&A, Banking and Finance and European and Competition. The process was led by the co-coordinating partner of Corporate M&A, Diogo Perestrelo and by the managing partner and co-coordinating partner of the Banking, Finance and Capital Markets area, Bruno Ferreira.

VdA was the only other Portuguese firm nominated, for the category: Practice of Law: Moving the market forward.