Portuguese powerhouse with a sizeable department, highly skilled in the full range of commercial, corporate and criminal litigation. Further areas of expertise include restructuring and insolvency, pharmaceutical litigation and international arbitration involving Portuguese-speaking jurisdictions such as Angola and Mozambique. "We are struck by the lawyers' level of knowledge and their ability to solve the most complex issues. They are available 24 hours a day and inspire confidence. We also appreciate the fact that they have partners who are true heavyweights in Portuguese advocacy."

Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados is involved in several arbitration proceedings in Lusophone countries. On the litigation front, Francisco Cortez is representing Deutsche Bank in a case against two of its clients pertaining to a contractual change following the financial crisis. Practice head António Pinto Leite was appointed as the Portuguese member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration in July 2015. Also recommended are Miguel de Almada and arbitrator Filipe Vaz Pinto, who is an ‘intelligent and seasoned lawyer’.

Led by partner Helena Soares de Moura the multidisciplinary restructuring and insolvency team focuses primarily on out of court, pre-insolvency negotiations, and is seeing a raft of restructurings, rather than insolvency matters, this year. A key highlight for the team was orchestrating a recovery plan for Hagen Engenharia, a part of the construction and engineering firm Elovo Group, with the firm conducting negotiations between the company and its creditors.