Portugal’s largest law firm, PLMJ, has announced that it has expanded its national network with new exclusive referral relationships with law firms in the north of Portugal and in the Azores, and is to establish a dedicated Central and European Europe platform – the first Portuguese law firm to do so.

The firm, which already has offices in Lisbon, Porto, and Faro in the Algarve has now signed partnership protocols with Guimarães-based Gama Lobo Xavier Luís Teixeira e Melo and Associates to serve the north of Portugal and the border with Galicia, and Azores-based Borges da Ponte Linhares Dias and Associates.

The intention, says the firm, is to offer a unique national platform. The terms of the protocols are similar to those already in operation with Coimbra-based Manuel Rebanda Pereira Monteiro and Associates, and which, says the firm, enables its clients to benefit from the legal knowledge, local experience, and regional contacts of each of the partner firms.

In addition, the firm’s orientation towards Central and Eastern Europe is likewise intended to increase its geographic reach in order to capitalise on the increasing flow of Portuguese businesses to the region.