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Vanessa Antunes

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Vanessa Antunes is a very solid lawyer, client-oriented and attentive to detail. She is able to design and present litigation strategies to the client to enable relevant business decisions.
Legal 500 2022
About

Vanessa focuses her professional activity in highly complex litigation, she has almost twenty-five years of experience, with extensive practice representing Portuguese and foreign clients in a wide variety of jurisdictions and sectors, in cases involving commercial, corporate and civil law and also pertaining in major restructuring cases, whether in an insolvency context or not.

Vanessa has acted as legal counsel for clients in a range of sectors, including banking, energy, tourism, construction, real estate, life sciences, insurance, telecommunications, tobacco, waste treatment and global management, automotive, retail industry and manufacturing.

Vanessa is a Member of the Litigation Lawyers Circle and a leading litigator highly recognised in the market. Vanessa Antunes is regularly highlighted by her clients and peers for her ability to ‘design and present litigation strategies’ in cases involving commercial, corporate and civil law.

EXPERIENCE

  • Advising an International Fund in the acquisition of a bridge bank created by Banco de Portugal (upon the imminent collapse of the second large private owned bank in Portugal) which received the assets and liabilities and a capitalization by the Resolution Fund.
  • Advising a member of the Board of Directors of a Portuguese commercial bank, representing this client in several civil law suits in the wake of a resolution action applied to the bank by Banco de Portugal, and of the group's collapse.
  • Advising China’s largest private conglomerate in the due diligence of a Portuguese bank, with a view to its acquisition, following application of a resolution action by Banco de Portugal.
  • Advising a Portuguese company bringing a law suit against a leading global company (in the locking systems, hinges and seals sector), concerning contractual liabilities (including clientele compensation) due to termination of a distribution agreement.
  • Acting for a Portuguese Renewable Energy Consulting Company on a litigation opposing a leading global company in natural gas distribution and generation and distribution of electricity, including appeals to the second instance court and supreme court, concerning contractual liabilities due to termination of an agency agreement. Matter value of EUR 545m.
Languages
  • Portuguese
  • English
  • Spanish
Education
  • Coimbra University School of Law, Post-Graduation Studies in Companies Law, 2001/2002
  • Lisbon University School of Law, Post-Graduation Studies in Industrial Property Law, 2000/2001
  • Lisbon University School of Law, Post-Graduation Studies in Information Society Law – Internet, Copyright, and E-Commerce, 2000/2001


    Lisbon University School of Law, Law degree, 1998

Awards

  • Distinguished as Up and Coming Partner for Dispute Resolution by Chambers and Partners
  • Telecommunications Lawyer of the Year in Portugal - 2022, Corporate INTL Global Awards
  • Energy Lawyer of the Year in Portugal - 2021, The Lawyer Network Annual Awards
  • Recommended by Legal 500 in Dispute Resolution and Insolvency & Restructuring

Prior Experience

  • 2018 - present, Partner, DLA Piper ABBC (previously ABBC)
  • 2007 - 2017, Senior Associate Lawyer, DLA Piper ABBC (previously ABBC)
  • 1998 - 2007, Trainee/Associate Lawyer, DLA Piper ABBC (previously ABBC)

Memberships And Affiliations

  • 2021 - present, Member of the Litigation Lawyers Circle
  • Admitted to the Portuguese Bar Association

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