Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados’ full-service team is particularly recommended for disputes; litigator Nuno de Oliveira Garcia is ‘outstanding’. Francisco de Sousa da Câmara is recommended for complex disputes. Carlos Botelho Moniz is recommended for European issues, and Pedro de Gouveia e Melo is also rated highly along with Isabel Santos Fidalgo, Oporto-based António Lobo Xavier, and customs and excise expert António Côrte-Real Neves. ‘Bright’ associate Bruno Santiago takes ‘a truly innovative and smart approach to problems’.
‘A great firm’ with ‘brilliant lawyers’, Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados’ ‘shows deep knowledge in market and regulatory issues’. The practice is experienced across telecoms, media, IT and data protection, acting for the likes of Sage, EDP Comercial and DSTelecom. Joaquim Vieira Peres advised Sonaecom on the merger between Optimus and ZON; the ‘dedicated, knowledgeable and business-oriented’ Nuno Peres Alves advised Optimus on the public tender procedure to designate the Telecommunications Universal Service Provider; and João Alfredo Afonso advised ADP on investments in Angola. António Lobo Xavier advises the national regulatory authority, ICP-ANACOM. Senior lawyers Gonçalo Machado Borges and Eduardo Maia Cadete are experienced in competition law matters.
Shipping and Transport
2014
Acting in broader transport issues as well as shipping and aviation, Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados’ ‘customer-oriented’ specialists have ‘a very high level of industry knowledge’. The team handles the full range of contentious and non-contentious work, with a particular focus on transactions and financing. Francisco de Sousa da Câmara and senior associates Manuel Freitas Pita and Cátia Henriques Fernandes are all highly recommended for shipping issues. On the aviation side, Segismundo Pinto Basto is ‘very professional, calm and an excellent leader’, and Luís Miguel Monteiro and João Serra are also highly recommended.
One of the most respected law firms in Portugal’, Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados’ strengths include development, logistics and car parks. Senior partner and urban development expert João Pereira Reis and senior associate Rui Ribeiro Lima are ‘outstanding professionals with strong knowledge and experience’. Variously head of corporate, tourism and real estate, Filipa Arantes Pedroso advised the Danish subsidiary of Babcock & Wilcox on a €26m waste-to-energy project on the island of Terceira in the Azores. Rita Ferreira Vicente advised Hypothekenbank Frankfurt’s Lisbon entity on restructuring the financing of various real estate projects. Other clients include Espirito Santo Group, Vinci Group and Câmara Municipal de Cascais.
Headed by Margarida Olazabal Cabral and Fernanda Matoso, Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados is ‘proactive’, with ‘in-depth industry knowledge’. Olazabal Cabral and Miguel Nogueira de Brito advised REN on procurement issues. Nuno Peres Alves advised Sonaecom on 2012’s Telecommunications Universal Service Provider tender. Other clients include General Dynamics European, Land Systems Agustawestland International, and FCC Construcción. Joaquim Vieira Peres and Gonçalo Machado Borges are also recommended.
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados’ ‘excellent’ ten-lawyer team has a strong track record advising banks, particularly on renewable energy projects. ‘Rated highly for his technical expertise’, Filipe Lowndes has ‘a really strong understanding of financial instruments and structures’. Luís Branco has ‘presence’ and inspires ‘confidence when discussing the most critical matters’. Pedro Gorjão Henriques is also recommended. Clients include Caixa – Banco de Investimento, Group Espírito Santo, Banif, Barclays and Santander.
Oporto: Leading Commercial Firms
2014
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados’ Oporto team works closely with the firm’s wider domestic and international network. The ‘outstanding and professional’ Carlos Osório de Castro advised Vallis Capital Partners on establishing a private equity fund under Luxembourg law. Jorge Simões Cortez handled Wedo Technologies’ acquisition of Connectiv Solutions. Other clients include BA Group and Sonae Capital. Corporate lawyer Eduardo Verde Pinho and tax specialist António Lobo Xavier are also recommended
Intellectual Property
2014
One of the leading players for patent litigation in the pharmaceutical sector, Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados’ IP practice is split between litigation, prosecutions and transactions. ‘The number-one arbitrator in ARBITRARE’, António Pinto Leite is presiding over several disputes between state and private entities. Pinto Leite is also representing Pfizer in more than 250 separate proceedings against generics, to protect its rights in Viagra, Lipitor and other medicines. Other mandates include counterfeiting litigation on behalf of Philips, and European trade mark litigation on behalf of American Expedition Vehicles and Streetcar. Tomás Vaz Pinto and associate Vasco Stilwell d’Andrade are recommended.
Insolvency and Restructuring
2014
Acting for a varied international client base, Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados has been involved in some of the most complex recent corporate and financial restructurings. Carlos Osório de Castro is highly respected in the field and has previously advised the government on the drafting of legislation. Practice head Helena Soares de Moura and Eduardo Verde Pinho are also recommended.
Energy and Environment
2014
A top provider’ of ‘high-impact service’, Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados is ‘number one in electricity’. Nuno Galvão Teles and associate Ricardo Andrade Amaro are highly regarded energy practitioners. Fernanda Matoso and João Pereira Reis are names to note on the environmental side. The firm continues to advise the Portuguese state in relation to the privatisations of EDP and REN. Rui de Oliveira Neves has moved to an in-house position with Galp.
Responsive’ and ‘analytical’, Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados is ‘one of the best firms in the market’, with Luís Miguel Monteiro highlighted for his intelligence and communication skills. Senior associate Maria João da Luz is ‘a strong negotiator’ and ‘fabulous professional’, and is ‘extraordinarily result-oriented’. Pedro Pardal Goulão advised Saint Julian’s School on its downsizing and redundancy process. Helena Tapp Barroso advised Impresa Group on labour and social security issues. Senior lawyer Paula Ponces Camanho, in Oporto, acted for Fujitsu in a dispute concerning internal HR policies. António Emílio de Vasconcelos and senior associate Joana Almeida are also recommended.
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados is ‘probably the best competition law firm in Portugal’. Tomás Vaz Pinto and Carlos Botelho Moniz are recommended along with Joaquim Vieira Peres and senior associates Gonçalo Machado Borges and Eduardo Maia Cadete. The firm is acting for Optimus in its claim against Portugal Telecom over its setting of prices between 2002 and 2005. The firm handles a regular flow of pre-merger control work, recently acting for Sonaecom in relation to the merger of Optimus and ZON. It has also handled numerous antitrust matters stemming from privatisations.
Specialisms of Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados’ 100-lawyer practice include telecoms, fraud and white-collar crime, and pharmaceuticals. Leading arbitrator António Pinto Leite continues to represent Pfizer in 250 separate disputes with generics drugs companies. Rui Patrício is advising Pernod Ricard in a contractual dispute with the producers of Licor Beirão. Miguel de Almada, Miguel Galvão Teles, Francisco Cortez, António Sampaio Caramelo, José Manuel Galvão Teles and Luís Miguel Monteiro are also recommended.
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados combines ‘creative thinking’ with ‘high-impact service’. The firm is well known in the energy sector, and is increasingly active in Lusophone Africa. Nuno Galvão Teles advised Caixa Seguros e Saúde, SGPS, and HPP International Lux on the Portuguese state’s sale of Hospitais Privados de Portugal; and João Soares da Silva advised BCP on the sale of Greek bank Millennium. Carlos Osório de Castro and associate Paulo Rendeiro ‘perform outstanding work’, and Segismundo Pinto Basto, Liliana Malheiro Tomás, Eduardo Verde Pinho, Tomás Vaz Pinto and Luísa Soares da Silva are also recommended. Rui Oliveira Neves and Teresa Morais Leitão left the firm.
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados is a leading player in both equity and debt capital markets. João Soares da Silva, Carlos Osório de Castro and Luísa Soares da Silva advised Millennium bcp on its recapitalisation programme, and Nuno Galvão Teles advised the Portuguese Republic and Parpública on the accelerated bookbuilding process relating to EDP’s share issuance. The firm has also been advising in relation to REN’s second reprivatisation phase.
‘Accomplishing the best standards’, Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados ‘brings excellent value to the most demanding projects’. Acting for institutions such as Espírito Santo, BBVA and Santander, its particular strengths include structured finance, projects and securitisation. Practice head Luís Branco, Pedro Gorjão Henriques and Filipe Lowndes Marques are recommended. The firm created a dedicated Africa desk in 2012, to build on its Angolan and Mozambiquan activities.