Pérez-Llorca to Open Abu Dhabi Office in 2026   

Pérez-Llorca has announced its intention to open an office in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, in 2026, located in the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), one of the region’s leading international financial centres.

The decision forms part of the firm’s international strategy and responds to structural changes in global capital flows. Institutional and private investors based in the Gulf have increasingly taken on a more prominent role in financing and acquiring assets in jurisdictions such as the Iberian Peninsula, Latin America and Portuguese-speaking African countries.

The new Abu Dhabi office will be led by Gonçalo Capela Godinho, currently Country Chair of the Lisbon office. With a strong international profile and extensive experience advising clients on complex cross-border transactions, Capela Godinho will oversee the launch of the office and drive the development of institutional and commercial relationships in the region.

Two Pérez-Llorca associates will initially relocate to Abu Dhabi alongside him.

Following Capela Godinho’s move, the Lisbon office will be led by Carlos Vaz de Almeida, who will assume the role of Managing Partner, while Inês Arruda and Adolfo Mesquita Nunes will serve as Country Co-chairs.

Abu Dhabi as a strategic international investment hub

The future Abu Dhabi office is conceived as a platform for relationship-building, deal origination and transaction execution, aimed at supporting Gulf-based investors in international investment projects. It will work in close coordination with Pérez-Llorca’s teams in Spain, Portugal, Mexico and Colombia, as well as with the Lusophone Africa practice coordinated from Lisbon.

The firm has clarified that its presence in Abu Dhabi is not intended to develop a local Middle Eastern law practice. Rather, the objective is to enhance proximity to international sources of capital that invest in markets where Pérez-Llorca has effective capacity to practise local law, ensuring an integrated, rigorous approach with a high degree of control over legal execution.

According to Gonçalo Capela Godinho, "the opening of an office in Abu Dhabi allows us to be closer to investors who have been playing an increasingly important role in transactions in the Iberian Peninsula, Latin America and Lusophone Africa. This is a step that is fully consistent with our strategy of orderly growth and with our vocation to advise on complex cross-border transactions, combining client proximity with direct legal execution in the relevant jurisdictions."

The Abu Dhabi office will operate in an integrated manner with Pérez-Llorca’s other international offices, including London, New York, Brussels and Singapore, strengthening the firm’s positioning as a leading legal partner for international investments that require local depth, international coordination and close management of client relationships.

Portugal: consolidation and a new governance phase

In parallel, Pérez-Llorca has reaffirmed its commitment to Portugal, where the project has experienced very significant growth in just two years, exceeding initial expectations. The Lisbon office has undergone substantial expansion, both financially and in terms of headcount, achieving a solid position in the Portuguese legal market.
The office currently employs more than 60 professionals, with 14 partners leading multidisciplinary teams covering all areas of business law as well as key sectors.
Maintaining its ambition for growth and its international focus, the Lisbon office is now entering a new phase of consolidation. This stage involves a governance structure adapted to the scale already achieved and to the demands of a project with strong Iberian and international projection, in line with Pérez-Llorca’s approach in other jurisdictions.

Within this framework, a new structure has been defined in Lisbon based on a Managing Partner with executive functions and two Country Co-chairs. Carlos Vaz de Almeida will assume the role of Managing Partner, while Inês Arruda and Adolfo Mesquita Nunes will act as Country Co-chairs.

"We are extremely grateful to Gonçalo for his work over the years in Lisbon, as he now hands over the management of this office to three outstanding professionals. We believe that this new structure strengthens the firm’s commitment to Portugal as a long-term strategic project and reflects our determination to continue promoting sustainable growth, supported by consolidated teams and strong technical excellence," said Pedro Pérez-Llorca, Managing Partner of Pérez-Llorca.

Carlos Vaz de Almeida added: "With great ambition and vision, Gonçalo Capela Godinho, together with the management team in Spain, was able to build in a short period of time a unique team of carefully selected professionals, enabling the Portugal project to reach the level of maturity and market presence it enjoys today. The firm can only be grateful to him, particularly at a time when he is taking on an equally relevant challenge within Pérez-Llorca’s internationalisation strategy. I thank the management team for the trust placed in me and take on this appointment with the same sense of responsibility and enthusiasm, at a particularly significant moment for the project and for the firm’s ambitions and high standards."

International strategy and global expansion

The planned opening in Abu Dhabi is part of Pérez-Llorca’s broader international expansion plan, aimed at strengthening its presence in strategic decision-making centres and consolidating its ability to support clients and investors in global transactions.

The firm’s international journey began in 2015 with the opening of offices in London and New York, followed by Brussels and later consolidated with Singapore. This strategy was further reinforced with entry into the Mexican legal market in 2024 and the Colombian market in 2025, positioning Pérez-Llorca as a leading top-tier Ibero-American law firm.

"We are very proud of everything we are building internationally. We are moving faster than we expected in our strategy, which encourages us to continue growing our international project, not only to keep supporting our clients in their transactions, litigation and regulatory matters, but also to enable our talent to develop in an international environment," said Iván Delgado, International Executive Partner at Pérez-Llorca.

perezllorca.com