Rita Prates

Degree in Law from the Faculty of Law of the Católica University of Lisbon.

Erasmus at the Faculty of Law of the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, ​​Spain.

LLM in EU and Competition Law from King’s College – University of London, UK.

Post-graduation in Commercial Law from the Faculty of Law of the Católica University of Lisbon.

Post-graduation in Energy Law from the Faculty of Law of the Clássica University of Lisbon.

Before joining the firm, she was a competition expert at Autoridade da Concorrência, the Portuguese Competition Authority (2010-2022).

As a member of the European Competition Network (ECN), representing the Portuguese Competition Authority, she was co-chair of the Merger Working Group (representatives of the European Commission and the Member States), between 2018 and 2020, and representative in several specialized competition groups with the OECD and the International Competition Network (ICN).

She was an associate lawyer at the Competition & EU Department led by Professor Dr. José Luís da Cruz Vilaça, at the PLMJ firm (2004-2010).

She completed a professional internship “Blue Book” in Unit F4 (restrictive practices of competition – retail) of DG Competition of the European Commission (2002-2003).

She started her professional career as an intern lawyer at Abreu & Associados (2000-2002).

Author of various books and articles namely:

• “Concorrência nas entrelinhas da negociação M&A”, ECO Newspaper, 4.11.2021 (https://eco.sapo.pt/opiniao/concorrencia-nas-entrelinhas-da-negociacao-ma/)
• Co-author of the book “International Cooperation of Competition Authorities in Europe: from bilateral agreements to transgovernmental networks”, Institute of Law Studies, Polish Academy of Sciences, 2021.
• “Partial implementation and gun-jumping, how original. What will they think of next? – Chapter Two”, in Revista de Regulação & Concorrência n.º 44, p. 100 e ss., 2020.
• “Diretiva ECN+: um processo de transposição pautado pela abertura, transparência e participação”, in Revista de Regulação & Concorrência n.º 37, p. 117 e ss., 2020.
• “Partial implementation and gun-jumping, how original. What will they think of next? – Chapter One”, in Revista de Regulação & Concorrência n.º 37, p. 133 e ss., 2020

Admitted to the Portuguese Bar Association.

English, Spanish.