Paula Gomes Freire is quoted by Jornal Económico in an article analysing the main prospects for the legal sector in 2025. The article, entitled ‘Optimism marked for 2025, but with challenges and instability ahead’, denotes an optimistic sector supported by the recovery of M&A processes.

The opportunities for the sector are supported by the prediction of political and economic stability, a crucial factor for economic growth and attracting international investment. Paula Gomes Freire anticipates ‘growth above the European average’, supported by the predictions that ‘the government will remain in office until next year’.

This optimism is reinforced by the implementation of the state budget and Portugal's ability to continue attracting international investment. ‘The prospects inherent in this - perhaps short-lived - political stability and the implementation of the budget that we know indicate that 2025 could be a year in which Portugal retains its capacity to attract international investment, enhanced, in the current context, by our peripheral and Atlantic location,’ says Paula Gomes Freire.

In addition, VdA's Managing Partner believes that 2025 could reverse the trend of contraction in M&A activity and enable some long-awaited transactions to materialise.

Technology is also emerging as a priority for the legal sector, which leads Paula Gomes Freire to emphasise the importance of tackling the challenges related to the ‘’central role that defence, security (physical and cyber) and risk management play in clients‘ concerns’’. There are also ‘very interesting opportunities, dictated by the imperatives of the 2030 Agenda and the imposition of ESG metrics, in the areas of Agribusiness, Corporate Human Rights and Governance’.