Squire Sanders & Dempsey is moving to secure a formal alliance with Portuguese firm Macedo Vitorino & Associados as the US firm launches a search for an affiliated firm in Portugal.

Macedo Vitorino has been Squire Sanders’ main referral firm in Portugal for more than two years, particularly for telecoms work, but the US firm is now hoping to secure a formal alliance with the firm. “When we move ahead in Portugal, one of our first options will be Macedo Vitorino,” one Squire Sanders partner told Legal Week.