Professional notice
Portugal
The competition group at PLMJ is led by partner Ricardo Oliveira, who is supported by partner Sara Estima Martins, two senior counsel and six associates. In 2020, the firm hired senior counsel Martim Valente, who is a former senior legal director at the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority, as well as senior counsel Rita Aleixo Gregório, a former independent competition law consultant. Managing associate Miguel Marques de Carvalho left the firm in September 2020 to join Cruz Vilaça Advogados.
The group is representing Ferro Corporation in the sale of its ceramic tile coatings business and related assets to Pigments Spain. The enforcer began investigating the deal in June 2020, and the firm says it is expecting a Phase II probe to be launched. The team also advised communications solutions provider Tofane Global on its acquisition of NOS International Carrier Services, which the authority unconditionally cleared in June 2019 after conducting a Phase I review.
The firm is defending Volvo/Renault Trucks against damages claims stemming from the European Commission’s Trucks infringement decision and is advising Grupo Bimbo in the enforcer’s probe into the food retail sector over suspected restrictive practices involving suppliers and retailers. The authority opened the investigation with dawn raids in 2017 and issued statements of objections in June 2020. The group is also counsel to Unilever, McDonald’s, Caixa Geral de Depósitos and Diageo in the authority’s probe into alleged collusive behaviour between two advertising associations, APAN and APAP. The enforcer issued a statement of objections to the associations in July 2019. Additionally, the firm is defending insurance company Seguradoras Unidas against follow-on damages litigation stemming from the enforcer’s insurance investigation, in which the company was a successful immunity applicant.
PLMJ is a law firm based in Portugal that combines a full service with bespoke legal craftsmanship. For more than 50 years, the firm has been shaping bold and creative solutions to defend its clients’ interests effectively.
The firm supports 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 maintain close contact with the regulators for each sector. PLMJ’s services are divided into areas of practice, sectors and desks, all with specialist teams dedicated to different areas of the law that work together seamlessly.
PLMJ Colab:
PLMJ Colab is the firm’s collaborative network of law firms that spreads across Portugal and other countries with cultural and strategic ties to it. This network makes the best use of resources and provides a concerted response to the international challenges of clients, wherever they are. The firm’s partnerships within Portugal allow it 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, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe and Timor-Leste.
The firm’s international desks know the idiosyncrasies of language and culture of the countries they work with, and they have a deep knowledge of the market, legislation and workings of the economy. Through multidisciplinary teams experienced in supporting and advising national and international companies and investors, the firm helps clients no matter where they are.
Social Impact:
The firm’s approach to social and environmental problems is inseparable from the firm’s professional work as lawyers. PLMJ want to help solve social and environmental problems in the community and the firm believes it is possible to add value back into society in parallel with the financial return for the firm’s work.
PLMJ’s social impact strategy seeks to expand its tradition of social intervention by giving it the greater consistency that comes from applying impact metrics and considering the external aspect of the firm’s actions. PLMJ’s focus is on the well-being of its employees and on controlling the social impact generated by the firm’s activity.