At the turn of the century Portugal had just one firm with over 100 fee earners. A decade later, at least eight firms have crossed that line and the aggregate number of lawyers in the top five firms has increased from 250 to 900. In the meantime, all Spanish majors opened up in Lisbon and one global firm did the same. Portuguese firms reached international standards, enabling them to deliver legal assistance at the highest standard.
All this happened in a counter-cycle fashion, just as Portugal was slowly leaving behind its brightest post-European Union membership years, which peaked in the late 90s. The unparalleled and exponential growth of the legal market was fuelled first and foremost by the need to meet a voracious demand. But now that demand has stalled – it is not only the present that feels gloomy in comparison to the past, but it is the future that looks cloudy in a market that used to thrive on projects supported by now dried-up public funds and transactions promoted by suddenly stranded Portuguese companies or based on the now anaemic appetite from foreign investors, with Spain, the country’s biggest commercial partner, in dire straits.
