As head of legal for hospital group Grupo Trofa Saúde (GTS), Pedro Ferraz is one of Portugal’s most prominent in-house lawyers in the health sector, having achieved a reputation of outstanding service to business partners and colleagues, as well as making a difference to the business’s bottom line. Working on acquisitions that Ferraz states ‘allowed the expansion of GTS’s biggest and most complex business unit and the transfer of its shared services’ as well as deals that have ‘enabled the organic business growth of GTS by means of new business units’, it is clear to see his legal advice and business acumen plays a large part in the Group’s growth.

The aforementioned new business units required support on a wide range of legal topics, including ‘licencing, financing, contractors agreements [and a] joint venture with a third-party for the long-term lease of the asset’. Ferraz’s support to the business also extends to the transformation of the way legal advice to the Group is given. Upon his arrival at GTS, he explains how the company ‘outsourced almost all pre-litigation and litigation matters’, this changed when Ferraz oversaw a move towards dealing with pre-litigation matters internally. Despite litigation matters still being outsourced, the in-house GTS legal team now has a member named as responsible for a litigation issue, requiring said member to ‘analyse all documentation, issue reports to external law firms and review their documentation and evaluate the external law firm at the end of the judicial proceedings’.

These changes have had the effect of assuring ‘more empowerment of the in-house legal team in the eyes of the wider company’ according to Ferraz. In addition to this change in approach for litigation matters, Ferraz has facilitated increased communication between the team and other business units – which has ‘helped the in-house legal team to be more synchronised with the business’ most urgent needs and enable better preventive reaction’. Finally, his team now assigns certain team members to certain areas of the business and areas law in accordance with their expertise as well as members with less experience being exposed to experienced members.

This ‘enables the internal client to feel confident with the in-house legal team members technical knowledge but also specific business knowledge’ according to Ferraz. In addition to these transactions and internal transformations, Ferraz highlights a number of achievements within his in-house career including ‘defining and developing an in-house legal team’, the ‘internalisation projects of mainly retail companies’ and ‘being able to make autonomous decisions and advise on the paths to be followed in each issue bearing in mind the need of the business, the culture of the company and the risk-taking behaviour of the stakeholders’. Regarding the latter he states: ‘That is, in my opinion, one of the of the biggest differences between a legal professional in a law firm and an in-house legal professional: the first is not required nor completely asked to advise on much more than the technical aspect of each issue; the in-house legal professional must approach and understand the whole scenario within each legal advice and therefore must take into consideration not only the relevant legal aspects but all aspects pertaining to the business needs and objectives’.

Ferraz began his legal career as an intern in the Uría Menéndez law firm, working his way up to associate lawyer working on corporate and labour matters before moving in-house recruited as the head of legal of GTS and affiliated companies. In 2016 he was also named as head of legal of VINCI Group, a newly formed group by shareholders operating in the real estate sector, showing his dedication and expertise in coordinating legal teams responsible for advising companies in three different sectors.