Bird & Bird is set to open an office in Lisbon after hiring a team of eight lawyers from Portuguese firm Sérvulo & Associados.
The office – the firm’s second in Iberia after Madrid – will be led by IP partner Ana Rita Paínho, who has joined from Sérvulo alongside corporate partner Sofia Carreiro, one of-counsel, two senior counsel and a group of three associates and support staff.
The launch marks Bird & Bird’s third international expansion as part of the five-year strategy it unveiled early last year, which included the goal of reaching €1bn in revenue within five years.
The firm set up shop in Tokyo in 2024 to support Japanese clients with outbound cross-border work and in May announced plans to open an office in Riyadh initially focused on tech, IP and corporate matters.
Firm CEO, Christian Bartsch, commented: “We are seeing great momentum behind our five-year strategy with the opening of offices in Tokyo, Riyadh and now Lisbon. All of these decisions are driven by client demand in our core sectors; this has always been the key determinant for opening an office in any country. With clients increasingly requesting us to provide a unified Iberian capability, it’s exciting to be able to deliver on this.”
The Lisbon team is expected to work closely with the 70-lawyer Madrid office Bird & Bird opened back in 2005. For her part Paínho specialises in life sciences, IP and TMT, working in the areas of trademarks and patents and, in the IT field, focusing on software, e-commerce, data protection, marketing and advertising. Meanwhile Carreiro’s practice focuses on M&A, though she also brings experience in restructuring and civil and commercial contracts.
Paínho noted the team had worked closely with Bird & Bird for a number of years.
“Portugal is a key hub for both technology and financial services companies,” Paínho said. “Through working closely with the Madrid office, we will be able to offer clients a seamless Iberian offering that mirrors their own cross-border structures.”
Fieldfisher also expanded into Portugal this year as part of its continued European buildout, hiring a team of more than 50 lawyers from local practice André Miranda Associados to open offices in Lisbon and Porto. Other entrants to the market in recent years include Spanish heavyweights Pérez-Llorca and Cuatrecasas, UK firm DWF, which formed an association with a local practice, and US employment specialists Littler.
Bird & Bird would have to raise turnover nearly 50% over the next four years to hit its €1bn target. The firm, which houses more than 1,400 lawyers globally, grew revenue 6% to €672.6m in the year to 30 April 2025, down from the 10% rise it reported for the previous year. Meanwhile, net profit edged up 3% and profit per equity partner flatlined at €831k.
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