The law firm PLMJ is the portuguese market leader and the only portuguese firm ranked exclusively in bands 1 and 2 in Chambers Europe 2013

The law firm PLMJ is positioned as the market leader in Portugal as the only firm in the county to be ranked in bands 1 and 2 in all 19 of its practice areas by Chambers and Partners – Europe. This most prestigious international directory, which evaluates the leading European law firms, also highlights PLMJ’s dominant role in the Portuguese legal world in its annual analysis of the work being done in this market.   

 

In the 2013 results, revealed at the annual ceremony in London, which took place at the end of last week, PLMJ was also under the spotlight for the achievements of its individual lawyers, with 55 individual rankings shared between 45 lawyers. This number has been going up over recent rankings and this year there are 6 more ranked individuals than last year. Among the specialists honoured, a great highlight was the naming of PLMJ founding partner and arbitration practice coordinator, José Miguel Júdice, as a Star Individual as well as the ranking of both PLMJ founding partner Luís Sáragga Leal PLMJ consultant Rui Chancerelle Machete as Senior Statesmen. These are the top level of rankings awarded by Chambers.

 

Among the rankings awarded to practice areas, worthy of particular attention are PLMJ’s rise to band 2 for transport and aviation - with direct entry into the rankings of two PLMJ specialists from this practice, partner Manuel Santos Vitor and senior associate Nuno Luís Sapateiro - and the fact that PLMJ has maintained its positions in bands 1 or 2 for all other practice areas.

 

These results once again demonstrate the absolute confidence of the market in the consistent work done by PLMJ and its lawyers, who have been involved in all the main operations that have occurred in Portugal recently and we are the only firm involved in all the privatisations that have taken place involving a number of the biggest Portuguese companies and banks, some of which are listed companies: EDP, REN, CIMPOR, Banco BIC and ANA – Aeroportos de Portugal. PLMJ’s lawyers were also involved in large foreign investment projects such as restructuring and insolvency cases and a number of mergers and acquisitions. PLMJ’s projects and arbitration teams have participated in domestic and international arbitration cases, in particular, recently advising the State in the arbitration case involving the concessionaire ELOS in the TGV case, among others. This involvement confirms that PLMJ is a reference firm for international arbitration. In 2013, the projects team has already been chosen to advise the State on the restructuring of the transport companies Metro de Lisboa and Carris.

 

This evaluation by Chambers also reflects the significant increase in PLMJ’s international presence, with the consolidation of the partnerships established through PLMJ International Legal Network, which has been strengthening its presence in countries that are targets for Portuguese investors. These partnerships have brought new challenges in new markets, especially in the areas of energy (oil and gas), corporate and M&A, and projects and infrastructures.

 

In the words of PLMJ managing partner Manuel Santos Vitor, “PLMJ’s ranking in bands 1 and 2 for all areas of the law covered by Chambers Europe’s analysis are fair recognition of the work done by PLMJ’s lawyers in advising on the main deals and transactions that have taken place in Portugal over the past year. These results also reflected our efforts to respond in the best way possible to an extremely challenging environment and to the demands of our clients. According to PLMJ’s managing partner, “despite living in a time of great dynamism and activity in  PLMJ, we are not ignorant of the obstacles that the current crisis has brought and, for this reason, we are grateful to our clients for the trust they continue to place in us from day to day. We believe that the coming years will be particularly difficult but we are confident that we will maintain our leadership in Portugal and that we will be increasingly recognised as a benchmark in the Portuguese market”.