Paula Gomes Freire, VdA’s Managing Partner, contributed to the article “From Energy to Defence: Where Will Law Firms Find Business Opportunities by 2030?”, published by Advocatus, which explores the sectors expected to generate greater demand for legal services in Portugal over the coming years.

Commenting on the expected evolution of demand, Paula Gomes Freire says: “We anticipate that some more traditional sectors, which are less exposed to the digital and energy transitions, may experience more moderate growth in demand for legal services compared with those we have identified as priorities. This does not mean that they will lose their absolute relevance, but merely that their relative growth will be lower.”

Regarding VdA’s preparations to address the needs of emerging markets, the Managing Partner highlights the recruitment of professionals “who, in addition to a solid legal education, possess excellent interpersonal and commercial skills, considerable curiosity and strong critical judgement”.

Paula Gomes Freire also emphasises the importance of an offering centred entirely on client experience and service quality, “evolving from a traditionally more reactive model towards a highly proactive and forward-looking approach to clients’ challenges and needs, underpinned by highly specific sector knowledge and relationships built on exceptional proximity and trust”.

Regarding the areas with the strongest growth prospects, she adds: “We anticipate promising levels of growth in energy, financial and digital regulation — including data protection, cybersecurity and AI regulation. Major infrastructure projects invariably generate cross-cutting legal needs, ranging from real estate and public procurement to tax and corporate structuring. We therefore also expect strong growth prospects in these areas.”

The article is available to read in the September print edition of Advocatus.