Cuatrecasas and Portuguese law firm SLCM sign integration agreement

Cuatrecasas and SLCM - Serra Lopes, Cortes Martins & Associados have agreed to integrate their teams and operate under the Cuatrecasas structure and brand. The agreement will enable the two firms to harness the capacities of their teams, as well as reinforcing Cuatrecasas’ positioning in the Portuguese legal market, which is anchored in its highly professionalized structure, its excellent reputation on the market, its use of cutting-edge technological processes and resources, and its work culture focused on knowledge and innovation.

When the integration is implemented—planned for January 1, 2023— Cuatrecasas will have a structure of 250 professionals in Portugal, including partners, counsel, associates and support staff, and Luís Cortes Martins, up until now managing partner of SLCM, will become senior partner of Cuatrecasas in Portugal, and a member of the firm’s board of directors. 

Luís Cortes Martins commented how the agreement between the two organizations “is a new milestone in the consolidation of the Portuguese legal market involving law firms focusing on added value services, particularly in business law, committed to excellence, young talent and international expansion as growth levers.” The future senior partner of Cuatrecasas in Portugal considers that “the integration of the two teams will enable us to expand on and be more efficient in the provision of services to our clients, while maintaining the characteristic distinction of both firms of having built two of the most respected and renowned legal practices in Portugal.”

Rafael Fontana, executive partner of Cuatrecasas, said “we could not have chosen better travel companions. The integration with SLCM brings us a new and exciting phase in our history, which I am sure will inexorably boost our growth in Portugal and in every jurisdiction where we operate.”

Nuno Sá Carvalho, managing partner of Cuatrecasas in Portugal, considers that the integration of SLCM in Cuatrecasas “is good news for the clients of Cuatrecasas who will now have access to a larger team of excellent professionals, and is good news for SLCM’s clients because, from now on, they can enjoy the benefits of a service with greater scope through our international network, specialized and inter-related by areas and industry sectors.”