Expertise
Led by Sofia Galvão, a recognised Lawyer on Territory, our team has several years of experience working together, characterised by closely shared values, principles and working procedures.
With our past professional experience as practising lawyers, as well as our record in the public sector and representation of business interests, we have a deep understanding of the points of view of various stakeholders in the economic activities connected to the Territory, from investors to decision-makers and from designers (i.e. architects, engineers) to consultants, financiers and intermediaries.
This understanding enables us to integrate and manage multidisciplinary teams and delineate customised action strategies according to the interlocutors who are present, employing the right language in each moment and place to build solutions and overcome conflicts and tensions.
We work to get results so that our clients can achieve success. Rather than managing problems, we find and suggest ways forward, identifying, at each step, what is (and what is not) possible, essential and productive, thus maximising time and resources.
Sofia Galvão
Sofia Galvão graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Lisbon, where she also received her Master’s in Legal Sciences. At the Faculty of Law, she later taught as an assistant and has maintained a close collaboration with the faculty as a lecturer in post-graduate studies and seminars. Sofia Galvão has been a visiting professor at the Faculty of Law of Universidade Nova de Lisboa and a speaker at various conferences and courses on her area of speciality.
She has a vast experience in planning; advising on procedures for the preparation and approval of land management instruments, administrative procedures for licensing (urban, commercial, industrial, environmental), environmental impact assessment procedures, and advising on the conception, planning, licensing and management of tourist enterprises, particularly hotels and resorts, the structuring of urban regeneration and renewal operations, the execution of real estate transactions (national and international agents, real estate investment funds, banking and other financiers, private equity, etc.), the licensing and installation of infrastructure; and the licensing of sea-related activities (ports, recreational boating, the use of the public maritime domain and the implementation of industrial activities).
At PLMJ, she was the partner responsible for urbanism, while at Sérvulo Correia & Associados and later at Vieira de Almeida & Associados, she was the partner responsible for real estate, urbanism and the environment.
Sofia Galvão was also Secretary of State for Public Administration and Secretary of State of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers in the 16th Constitutional Government.
Currently, she is a member of the Advisory Committee of Specialists on the next Programme Cycle for European Funds (2014-2020) (Assistant Minister and Minister of Regional Development Miguel Poiares Maduro) and represents the Portuguese Tourism Confederation in the working group responsible for preparing a Programme for Urban Renewal (Economic and Social Council) and the working group responsible for Administrative Streamlining (Strategic Council for Internationalisation and Economic Growth).
Sofia Galvão is a renowned Lawyer on Territory, having earned the distinction of being named Portuguese Lawyer of the Year in Real Estate (2013) and Planning (2014 and 2016) by Best Lawyers, and Star Individual in Planning by Chambers Europe (2014 and 2015).
Luís Moitinho de Almeida
Luís Moitinho de Almeida is graduated from the School of Law at the Portuguese Catholic University, in Lisbon, and holds a Master’s degree in European and International Law (LL.M, Law in a Global and European Context) from that same institution.
From 2013 to 2015, he was a deputy to the Secretary of State for Administrative Modernization in 19th Constitutional Government. Luis was also a Guest Lecturer of International Private Law in the Portuguese Catholic University law degree.
Luís Moitinho de Almeida practices in all areas associated with the law of the Territory, in particular in spatial planning, construction, environment, energy and licensing. His work also covers litigation and public procurement proceedings in those as well as in other areas.
He has a wide experience in assessing, discussing and drafting legislation, as well as in preparing legal opinions in a extensive range of subjects in public and private law, especially in public finances, local administration and public sector companies, along with the areas associated with the law of the Territory.
Miguel Mesuras
Graduated from the University of Lisbon Law School (2014-2018), where he also attended the In-depth Course on the Administrative Procedure Code, coordinated by Professor Fausto de Quadros, taught by the Institute for Legal and Political Sciences. In 2018, he began his professional internship with the Bar Association at Alcides Martins, Bandeira, Simões & Associados, integrating the Administrative Law and Public Procurement team, until 2021. He is enrolled at the Bar Association, as a Lawyer, since January 2021, having started his collaboration with Sofia Galvão Advogados in May of the same year.
Mónica Lopes dos Santos
Graduated from University of Lisbon Law School (2000-2005), where she attended and completed the Post-Graduation Course in Tax Law, coordinated by Professor António de Sousa Franco, promoted by the Instituto de Direito Económico, Financeiro e Fiscal (Institute of Economic, Financial and Tax Law). She also attended the Practical Course in Accounting and Balance Sheet Analysis, promoted by the Instituto de Estudos para o Desenvolvimento Empresarial, Lda., at the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry – Lisbon Commercial Association.
She practiced law at Calheiros Vellozo, Medeiros Cordeiro & Gil Fernandes – Sociedade de Advogados R.L., at Miguel Reis & Associados – Sociedade de Advogados, R.L., as a lawyer and also as working partner, at Martinez Echevarria & Ferreira, and at Importantaltura- Unipessoal, Lda, as part of its legal department, specialising in real estate, in particular advising property developers and investors on residential, commercial, tourism and service projects, intervening in real estate investment projects, tourism law, registry and notary law, and corporate law. She joined Sofia Galvão Advogados in September 2023.
Joana Aragão Seia
Graduated from the Faculty of Law – School of Porto of the Portuguese Catholic University (2014-2018). In 2021, she received her Master’s degree in Administrative Law at the School of Law of the Portuguese Catholic University, in Lisbon, where she also attended the Postgraduate Course on Law and Practice of Administrative Procedure and Proceedings. Her academic training also includes the Advanced Course in Administrative Arbitration and the Specialization Course on Access to Administrative Information promoted by the Institute of Legal and Political Sciences of the Law School of the University of Lisbon. In 2019, she began her professional internship at Sérvulo & Associados, as part of the Administrative Law team. From 2021 to 2023 she worked as a trainee lawyer and a lawyer at Garrigues Portugal S.L.P. She joined Sofia Galvão Advogados in January 2023. She is enrolled at the Bar Association since March 2022.
Taís Villela
Graduated from the University of Coimbra Law School (2015-2019), and has done Erasmus at the Sapienza University Law School, in Rome. Taís is currently doing a Master in Legal-Environmental Sciences at University of Lisbon Law School, where she was also European Union Litigation Law tutor. In February 2020, Taís initiated her collaboration with Sofia Galvão Advogados, as a Trainee Lawyer. And has been, since September 2022, enrolled at the Bar Association as a Lawyer.
João Pedro Antunes
Graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon (2016-2021), where he also concluded the Post-Graduate Course on Real Estate Law (2020/2021). He has previously attended internships at LGVA & Associados (2018) – mainly dealing with Administrative and Public Law, Real Estate and Urban Planning –, at PLMJ Advogados (2019) – in the Litigation and Arbitration team –, and in the Legal Affairs and Governance department at GALP. In the summer of 2019 attended a course on Intellectual Property, at the Institut für Geistiges Eigentum, Technikrecht und Medienrecht (IGETeM), in Dresden, Germany. In June 2021 started his collaboration with Sofia Galvão Advogados, as a Trainee-Lawyer. He is enrolled at the Bar Association since September 2023.
Raquel Bernardino
Graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra (2015-2019), where she completed a Master’s Degree in Legal and Political Sciences, with a specialization in Administrative Law (2019-2021), and a Postgraduate Degree in Spatial Planning, Urbanism and Environmental Law (2013/2014). She also completed an Integrated Bachelor and Master’s Degree in Architecture at the same University. She was a teaching assistant at the Faculty of Law of Coimbra. She is an Associate at the Center for Studies in Planning, Urbanism and Environmental Law (CEDOUA) of the Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra. From 2021 to 2023, she completed her Bar Association internship at Sérvulo & Associados, where she worked in the Urban Planning, Litigation and Public Law teams. In September 2023, she began working with Sofia Galvão Advogados. Admitted to the Portuguese Bar Association in September 2023.