KPMG has launched a legal arm in Portugal with a team of seven partners recruited from five law firms.
KPMG Law will be led by longstanding tax partner Luís Magalhães and have offices in Lisbon and Porto.
To kick off the venture, which aims to have more than 70 lawyers within the next two years, the firm has recruited senior lawyers from Morais Leitão, Cuatrecasas, Deloitte Legal Telles and GPA.
The move follows the introduction of regulations permitting multidisciplinary partnerships in 2024, which was followed by last year's merger between Deloitte Legal and Portuguese firm TELLES.
“KPMG Law was created because there is room for a distinct value proposition, built on legal excellence, true multidisciplinarity, global reach and the effective use of technology,” said Magalhães, adding that the firm aims to support clients through increasingly complex regulatory and business environments.
The largest contingent of recruits has joined from Portuguese heavyweight Morais Leitão, which has lost four lawyers: corporate partners João Afonso and Jorge Cortez, competition specialist Dzhamil Oda, who was a managing associate, and of counsel Bernardo Almeida Azevedo, a public law specialist.
The new firm has also recruited corporate partner Samantha Cyrne from Cuatrecasas, real estate partner Marta Gouveia Gomes from Deloitte Legal Telles and GPA partner Manuel Gouveia Pereira.
Portuguese business newspaper ECO reported that KPMG's arrival had been anticipated in the legal market for months, with the firm choosing to assemble its practice through a series of lateral hires rather than by acquiring an existing law firm.
KPMG said the new firm would invest in new technology, unhindered by legacy systems. It is looking to "operate in areas related to digital transformation, ESG and sustainability, supporting organisations seeking more efficient, integrated legal and operational models capable of addressing new regulatory and market demands".
KPMG’s global legal network spans more than 100 countries and brings together around 4,000 lawyers.
Last September, Bird & Bird announced the opening of an office in Lisbon after hiring a team of eight lawyers from Portuguese firm Sérvulo & Associados.
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