Pérez-Llorca announced its intention to open an office in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates, in 2026, in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), one of the leading international financial centers in the region.

The decision aligns with the firm’s international strategy and reflects a structural shift in global capital flows. Institutional and private investors based in the Gulf have been playing an increasingly significant role in financing and acquiring assets in jurisdictions such as the Iberian Peninsula, Latin America, and Portuguese-speaking African countries.

This new Pérez-Llorca office in Abu Dhabi will be headed by Gonçalo Capela Godinho, the current country chair of the Lisbon office. With a distinctly international profile and extensive experience advising clients on complex, cross-border transactions, Capela Godinho will lead the establishment and drive the development of institutional and commercial relationships in the region. Two Pérez-Llorca associates will initially relocate alongside Gonçalo Capela Godinho.

With Capela Godinho’s departure to Abu Dhabi, the Lisbon office will be headed by Carlos Vaz de Almeida, who will serve as managing partner, while Inês Arruda and Adolfo Mesquita Nunes will be country co-chairs.

Abu Dhabi: International Strategic Investment Center

Pérez-Llorca’s future office in Abu Dhabi is conceived as a platform for relationships, origination and execution of transactions, intended to support Gulf investors in investment projects abroad, working closely with Pérez-Llorca’s teams in Spain, Portugal, Mexico and Colombia, as well as with the Portuguese-speaking African practice coordinated from Lisbon.

The firm’s presence in Abu Dhabi is not aimed at developing local law practice in the Middle East. Rather, it seeks to strengthen its proximity to international capital sources that invest in markets where Pérez-Llorca has the capacity to effectively practice local law, ensuring an integrated, rigorous approach with a high degree of control over legal execution.

According to Gonçalo Capela Godinho, the Pérez-Llorca partner who will lead the project, “opening an office in Abu Dhabi allows us to be closer to investors who have been playing an increasingly important role in transactions in the Iberian Peninsula, Latin America, and Portuguese-speaking Africa. This is a step consistent with our strategy of orderly growth and our commitment to advising on complex cross-border transactions, combining client proximity with direct legal execution in the relevant jurisdictions.”

The Abu Dhabi office will work in an integrated manner with the rest of Pérez-Llorca’s international offices, including London, New York, Brussels and Singapore, reinforcing the firm’s position as a leading legal partner in international investments that require local depth, international coordination and close client relationship management.

Portugal: consolidation of the Iberian project and international boost

Meanwhile, Pérez-Llorca reaffirms its commitment to Portugal, where the project has experienced significant growth in just two years, exceeding expectations. The Lisbon office has undergone substantial expansion, both financially and in terms of the number of professionals, achieving a solid presence in the Portuguese legal market.

Currently, this office employs more than 60 people, with 14 partners leading multidisciplinary teams that cover all areas of business law, as well as key sectors.

Maintaining Pérez-Llorca’s characteristic growth ambitions and international focus, the firm is now entering a new phase of consolidation. This stage involves a governance structure tailored to its current size and the demands of a project with a strong Iberian and international presence, similar to what Pérez-Llorca has implemented in other jurisdictions.

In this context, a new structure has been defined in Lisbon, based on a managing partner with executive functions, and two country co-chairs. Carlos Vaz de Almeida will assume the functions of managing partner of the firm, while Inês Arruda and Adolfo Mesquita Nunes will perform the functions of country co-chairs.

“We are extremely grateful to Gonçalo for his work over the years in Lisbon, as he hands over the reins of this office to three outstanding professionals. We believe this new structure reinforces the office’s commitment to Portugal as a long-term strategic project and reflects our desire to continue driving sustainable growth, supported by established teams and solid technical excellence,” said Pedro Pérez-Llorca, managing partner of Pérez-Llorca.

“With great ambition and vision, Gonçalo Capela Godinho, together with the management team in Spain, was able to quickly create a unique team of carefully selected professionals, enabling the project in Portugal to reach its current level of maturity and implementation. The firm is extremely grateful to him, especially as he takes on an equally important challenge within the context of Pérez-Llorca’s internationalization strategy. I thank the management team for the trust they have placed in me and I accept this appointment with the same responsibility and enthusiasm, at a particularly relevant time for the project and for the firm’s ambitions and high standards,” said Carlos Vaz de Almeida, Managing Partner of Pérez-Llorca’s Lisbon office.

International strategy: sustained growth and presence in global decision centers

The intention to open an office in Abu Dhabi is part of Pérez-Llorca’s international expansion plan, aimed at strengthening its presence in strategic centers and consolidating its ability to support clients and investors in global transactions.

This initiative responds to the need to complete the office’s coverage in a region with a growing influence on global investment flows and a central role in international financial decision-making.

Pérez-Llorca’s international expansion began in 2015 with the opening of offices in London and New York, continued with Brussels , and was consolidated with Singapore, thus covering the financial capitals of the three major global economic development regions and the European regulatory capital. This strategy was completed when, in 2024, Pérez-Llorca entered the Mexican legal market and in 2025 when it entered the Colombian market, thereby becoming a leading Ibero-American law firm.

“We are very proud of everything we are building internationally. We are progressing faster than we expected in our strategy, and that motivates us to continue growing our international project to support our clients in their operations, litigation, and regulatory matters, but also to help our talent develop in an international environment,” said Iván Delgado, International Executive Partner at Pérez-Llorca.