Portugal

Firm overview

Firm overview

Firm overview

Transformative Legal Experts

We are a law firm based in Portugal that combines a full service with bespoke legal craftsmanship. For more than 50 years, we have taken an innovative and creative approach that has produced specific, strategic solutions to effectively defend the interests of our clients. 

We are a full-service firm and we support our clients in all areas of the law, often with multidisciplinary teams, and always acting as a business partner in the most strategic decision-making processes. PLMJ has specialist lawyers that know the sectors and markets they work in well, and they always keep in close contact with the regulators for each sector.

With the aim of being close to our clients, we created PLMJ Colab, our collaborative network of law firms spread across Portugal and other countries with which it has cultural and strategic ties. PLMJ Colab makes the best use of resources and provides a concerted response to the international challenges of our clients, wherever they are. The national partnerships allow us to extend PLMJ’s presence from Lisbon, Porto and Faro to the Azores, Coimbra, Guimarães and Madeira.  International collaboration is ensured through firms specialising in the legal systems and local cultures of Angola, China/Macao, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, São Tome and Príncipe and Timor-Leste.

We also have international desks specializing in Angola, China, France, Germany, Italy, Mozambique, Scandinavia, Switzerland and UK markets. Each desk focuses on a specific market and has a multidisciplinary team experienced in supporting and advising international investors. Besides knowing the idiosyncrasies of language and culture, these teams have a deep knowledge of the market, legislation and workings of the economy of the place where they work.

Firm overview

Morais Leitão is a leading full-service law firm in Portugal, with a solid background of decades of experience. Broadly recognised, the Firm is a reference in several branches and sectors of the law on national and international level.

At Morais Leitão we have a substantial team of tax lawyers with a relevant experience in this area. Our clients include some of the largest national and foreign corporate groups, operating in a wide range of sectors, including industry, services and telecommunications, banking and financial services, securities and real estate investment funds and private equity funds, as well as medium and small companies, public institutions, foundations, non-governmental social support organizations and private clients.

Alongside the tax litigation, we also ensure the best integrated tax advice in relation to the most diverse operations, seeking to complement the tax analysis with an approach to the different relevant areas of law. Our expertise comprises tax planning in corporate restructuring operations, research and development activities, mergers and acquisitions, public offerings, securitisation operations, structured finance operations, mortgage credit, debt issuance, derivatives, as well as specific tailored tax support within the scope of each client’s field of activity.

We also accompany inspection actions carried out by the Tax Authority, ensuring a thorough knowledge of the substantive law and a wide experience of legal assistance in the most diverse inspection procedures. In the area of tax litigation, we are proud on having a recognized team, which has sponsored some of the largest and most complex tax complaints and arbitration processes that have been trialed by our courts.

Due to its network of associations and alliances with local firms and the creation of the Morais Leitão Legal Circle in 2010, the firm can also offer support through offices in Angola (ALC Advogados), Cape Verde (VPQ Advogados) and Mozambique (HRA Advogados).