Highlights

PLMJ International Legal Network opens representative office in London

20 April 2015
PLMJ International Legal Network opens representative office in London

Further internationalisation in a leading financial centre with high potential for investment in Portuguese-speaking markets. 

PLMJ International Legal Network - a network of leading firms in Portuguese-speaking countries with the law firm PLMJ at its heart - has now opened a representative office in London and has set up a UK Desk. Hugo Rosa Ferreira, the partner who heads PLMJ’s banking and finance practice, is responsible for this project, which marks a further strengthening of PLMJ’s internationalisation process. This step brings the firm’s network closer to the financial hub where clients make their decisions and to the major international law firms that work there.  

For PLMJ managing partner, Manuel Santos Vítor, “this is a natural step in our ambition to consolidate and grow PLMJ International Legal Network. Our new office in London will allow us to shorten distances in providing services to our clients in the countries where we are present.”
This presence is justified because London is the leading European centre for legal services, not only for Europe but also for the rest of the world, and because of the increasing volume of work referred to PLMJ by the major UK and US firms present in London in matters related to Portugal and Portuguese-speaking countries, above all, Angola and Mozambique.
The office in London will also raise the profile of PLMJ International Legal Network in markets where US and UK law firms are not present and where PLMJ has been active for a number of years.  

According to Hugo Rosa Ferreira, We are going to be closer to our clients and to the international firms we work with regularly. We will be the link between Portuguese investors that are present on the UK or want to enter that market and potential UK investors that are very interested in Angola and Mozambique but require local references and partners. The investors need legal services on the ground in these countries that meet international standards for response capacity, quality know-how and experience that PLMJ can offer directly through its network.

Hugo Rosa Ferreira also emphasises that: “We are not going to practice English law but we are going to bring greater visibility in the London market to the countries where we work and where we can offer added value to clients”.

The United Kingdom is the third largest European investor in Portugal after France and Spain and British companies have a growing interest in the Angolan and Mozambican markets, principally in the areas of energy, natural resources, mining and construction. Besides this, Portuguese exports to the UK have been growing over the last three years and this positive trend is expected to continue, particularly in machinery, clothing and footwear, transport equipment and chemicals.

PLMJ is the first of the three main independent Portuguese law firms to have an office in London, alongside more than 50 independent firms from other European countries that already have a presence there.

PLMJ International Legal Network opens representative office in London
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