Two PLMJ Partners among the 40 best Iberian Lawyers under the age of 40
September, 2011 - Lisbon, Portugal
Tomás Pessanha and Tiago Duarte among the best lawyers in Portugal and Spain. Tiago Duarte is the only winner of the solidarity award, given for the first time this year.
The excellence of PLMJ’s lawyers has again been recognised at Iberian Lawyer’s ‘40 under Forty’ awards which honour the forty best lawyers under the age of forty on the Iberian Peninsula. Yesterday in Barcelona partners Tomás Pessanha and Tiago Duarte received their Iberian Lawyer awards at a ceremony where they represented the firm alongside PLMJ board member, Nuno Líbano Monteiro. The two PLMJ lawyers were among five lawyers from Portugal being honoured this year.
Besides these awards, partner Tiago Duarte also won the award presented by Fundación Lex Nova, which recognises social responsibility and distinguishes lawyers who work with the community at large. Tiago Duarte was the only winner and he announced last night, during the ceremony at Hotel Juan Carlos I, that the prize money (€1500) will go directly to Fundaçaõ Candeia, a Portuguese association that helps underprivileged children by promoting and supporting free time activities. Tiago Duarte helped set up Fundaçaõ Candeia and dedicates much of his out-of-office time to it.
This is the third edition of these awards organised by the prestigious international magazine, Iberian Lawyer. The event seeks to recognise and reward excellence among the new generation of Spanish and Portuguese lawyers and PLMJ partners João Magalhães Ramalho (Tax), Pedro Melo (Projects and Infrastructure) and Tiago Mendonça de Castro (Real Estate) all received the award in 2009.
How are the 40 Under Forty chosen?
In an initiative open to law firms, companies and public authorities, the jury received more than 200 nominations. Forty of the most promising lawyers from the new generation of Iberian commercial law professionals are selected to receive the awards on the basis of their quality and technical training, their leadership and team management abilities, their experience in highly complex legal operations and transactions and for their involvement in activities that benefit the community. The choice is also made in light of their ties to culture, the arts and sporting activities. The jury is made up of a number of personalities from the legal, business and academic sectors and this year saw the biggest jury ever made up of CEOs from the leading multinationals operating in Spain and Portugal, representatives of academic institutions and the bar associations of the countries involved.
