Interview with: Mónica Mayer Moreira, Managing Partner, CTSU

What do you see as the main points that differentiate CTSU from your competitors?

Our footprint is one of the main differences. We have a global presence, as part of the Deloitte Legal practice, with more than 2,500 lawyers in more than 80 countries. “With innovation and business knowledge, we add value to our Client’s projects in an integrated and global manner” – this is our main reference for the rendering of legal services. By working globally with different expertise and business teams, our lawyers bring together skilled teams with deep knowledge of different industries, enabling them to propose several diversified and adequate solutions to each client.

CTSU´s Lawyers combine legal expertise with industry knowledge, working dynamically and closely  with clients as trusted advisors, promoting teamwork and strong confidence in the solutions presented. CTSU promotes accountability, specialization, research, innovation, quality, efficiency and effectiveness within the scope of the legal services provided to clients, complying with the highest ethics and deontology standards.

Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that?

Following Covid-19 impact, we assisted to the significant growing of legal areas such as Mergers and Acquisitions, Corporate and Digital Law. We expect M&A, specially within health, technologies, logistics, renewable energy, and tourism sectors to continue to grow and to be relevant. And the same applies to Compliance and Regulatory practices.

We are of course concerned about the impacts of the war in Europe, further to inflation and energy crisis inflation. In a crisis and/or post crisis environment, areas such as Labour, Restructuring and Recovery, as well as insurance, should also be very active.

What’s the main change you’ve made in the firm that will benefit clients?

We are very much focused in our growth and innovation strategy.

We are investing in new technologies, including new and updated software solutions that on the one hand increase internal efficiency and on the other hand change the way legal services are delivered to clients, bringing us closer and working more effectively together. We have continued implementing our growth strategy, namely increasing our teams in several key practice areas, such as M&A, Real Estate, Energy, Infrastructures and Public Law, Digital Law and Restructuring & Recovery.

Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them?

We have implemented and have been using software interactive tools for client use, which enable clients in having direct access to the main information and current status of relevant procedures, namely litigation suits, contracts/corporate documentation or corporate secretarial services. This approach enables clients to monitor in real time pending activities and deadlines. We try to adapt the features of our tools to effective needs of clients.

We have also adopted contract automation and AI tools and have other tech initiatives in our pipeline to be developed during the current year.

Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business?

We may share some examples that evidence the strength of having a global footprint.

We are currently assisting a client within a transaction involving five jurisdictions, namely in Europe and South America. We have been able to provide a global proposal to the client, involving all the relevant jurisdictions, where the local Deloitte Legal practices are developing their due diligence processes, under CTSU coordination, in this specific case. The ability to coordinate different jurisdictions with a consistency in the approach, quality and deliverables proves to be a strong add value to the client.

We are assisting several global clients within their corporate matters, combining legal services with interactive technological tools which allow the clients to have a global view of their corporate structures and legal obligations.  Again, the approach is global, quality is consistent, and the technological tool improves efficiency and brings strong value to the clients’ business.

Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three years’ time?

Our firm, as part of Deloitte Legal global practice and strategy, can offer clients a wide range of services, technology interactive tools that can be accessed globally as well as broad geographic reach. We are growing organically, consistently recruiting within the best legal talent in Portugal, and solidifying our position as one of the main legal references in Portugal while offering opportunities  for lawyers to achieve their career goals. Our overall goal is to improve the way legal services are delivered and continue to be regarded as a leader in this respect. We will continue to address clients’ needs with efficiency, quality, competence and excellence, always maintaining a close relation with our clients.