Portugal’s legal market has reached a crucial stage in its development. Management boards across Lisbon are grappling with the issue of succession and who will lead their firms in the future. Decisions that have recently been taken, or are at the top of the agenda, will have a lasting impact on the future, and indeed survival, of many of Portugal’s largest law firms.
With Portugal’s leading firms being founded during the country’s democratic age, post-1974, many of the founding partners enjoy pseudo-celebrity status in the Portuguese business world, but are nearing retirement. Although some firms are further down the road in dealing with the generational shift, most still have to find ways to ensure a smooth succession that will allow younger partners to make the firm their own, rather than practise in the shadow of the veterans.
