The Big 4’s legal push in Portugal
How Deloitte, PwC and EY are reshaping the market following the approval of the new multidisciplinary services regulation. KPMG is the only one without the legal service line
by glória paiva
Experts: João Ricardo Nóbrega, managing partner at EY; Mónica Moreira, managing partner at Deloitte Legal; Cristina Cabral Ribeiro, legal lead partner at PwC Portugal
Recognized for their excellence in auditing and fiscal and strategic consulting, the so-called Big 4 have expanded their operations worldwide to include high-value-added legal services. In Europe, the 2006 directive that authorizes and regulates multidisciplinary practices was the missing lever to drive the establishment of true law firms associated with names such as EY, Deloitte, PwC, and KPMG, which, in a short time, positioned themselves among the largest law firms in various countries like Spain and Italy. The European directive was transposed into Portuguese legislation in 2013, but the Statute of the Bar Association prohibited the practice and participation of lawyers in multidisciplinary firms until its latest reform in April 2024, which lifted this ban. Not surprisingly, EY Law began its activities in November in Lisbon, already with 23 lawyers on its team and the ambition to double this number by the end of the year, in order to compete in the tier-1 services market in areas such as M&A, real estate, private equity, financial, tax litigation, labor, ESG, energy, and others.
The new EY Law office in Portugal joins 90 other units spread across the globe, where more than 3,400 legal professionals work under the EY umbrella. “It represents the culmination of an evolution process, adapting to the demands of the global legal market”, the firm had declared at the time of its opening. In an interview with Iberian Lawyer (see related article), João Ricardo Nóbrega, managing partner, stated that the intention is to keep the legal division independent, although he acknowledges the advantages of providing integrated services. “One single entity can have several service lines, holistically covering all the client’s needs”, he reflects.
Also in 2024, the former CTSU and CCR Legal announced their “rebranding,” riding the wave of the new legislation on multidisciplinarity. Since then, they have been renamed Deloitte Legal and PwC Legal, respectively, fully assuming their connection with the two major multi-service firms.
DELOITTE LEGAL: GLOBAL PROJECTS, LOCAL OPPORTUNITIES
Founded in Portugal in 2003 as CTSU-Sociedade de Advogados with 16 professionals, Deloitte Legal now has 63 lawyers. The firm has shown growth exceeding double digits, both in business volume and revenue, reaching approximately €7 million in earnings. In 2024, the advisory services provided to the partners of FairJourney Biologics in the sale of their entire share capital to Partners Group were named “Deal of the Year 2024” by TTR Data.
