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Maria is ranked by Chambers and the Legal 500 in both Projects and Energy & Natural Resources.
Maria is ranked by Chambers and the Legal 500 in both Projects and Energy & Natural Resources.
As Head of Regulatory and Public Law in Lisbon, Maria plays a pivotal role in providing a full service to domestic and international key players, in top tier mandates for complex, large projects in strategic highly regulated sectors, in Portugal and Lusophone Africa, particularly in multi-jurisdictional deals, advising on regulatory, environmental, licensing and public procurement matters.
Her practice spans the full lifecycle of energy and infrastructure projects, from structuring and procurement to financing and operation, with a particular focus on public law and regulatory risk. From her regulatory foundation (non-financial) she intersects almost all M&A and finance deals, providing the oversight of the regulatory landscape to ensure compliance and a strategic public law and regulatory perspective to assist in structuring the deal or the project.
She is predominantly active in energy and infrastructure, involving road and rail, healthcare, telecommunications, water and waste deals, having extensive experience in PPP projects and concession contracts.
Maria is known for her synergistic approach across multiple practices and sectors, investing in a robust multi-sector collaborative environment with clients, the corporate and finance Lisbon teams and other Linklaters offices.
Finally, she is co-responsible for both the Business Development and Corporate Responsibility & Community Investment areas within the Lisbon office. Maria started her legal career in 2006 at the local law firm ATPR - Sociedade de Advogados, where she became a Partner, and after joining CS´ Associados in 2013 to help build its public law department, she joined the Lisbon office of Linklaters in 2021 as Head of the Regulatory and Public Law practice.
Maria is actively involved in the blue economy. She has been engaged with the BLUEBIO ALLIANCE (BBA), an organisation active in the marine bioresources and blue biotech sectors, since its inception and served as a Member of its Executive Board from 2016 to 2021.
Maria is a founding member of the Portuguese Association of Energy Law (APDEN) and of the CAA - Círculo de Advogados de Administrativo (administrative lawyers association), where she was recently elected to the Executive Committee Board.
She is frequently invited to speak at national and international conferences on public law and regulatory matters. She was recently invited for example to be a Keynote Speaker in a workshop for public stakeholders and members of Parliament, in the context of the legislative process of updating the Licensing of Renewable Energy Projects in Portugal.
Maria holds a Law Degree from the Faculty of Law of the Lisbon University. During her law studies she studied at the Faculty of Law of the Université Libre de Bruxelles within the Erasmus Program. She attended the Master's in Administrative Law at the Lisbon School of Law of the Católica University and completed the Advanced Management in Energy (AMEG) course of the AESE Business School, in collaboration with the Portuguese Energy Association.
Maria obtained Postgraduate Degrees in Consumer Law and in Water Law, from the Faculty of Law of the Lisbon University.
She additionally attended various national and international courses on topics related to her area of expertise, such as intensive courses on The Public Contracts Code Reform and the impact of EU Directives, and on Public Procurement, both at the Católica University, and recently on Expropriation for Public Use and Administrative Easements, at the Faculty of Law of the Lisbon University.
Maria is a fully qualified Member of the Portuguese Bar Association since 2009.
She speaks Portuguese, French, Spanish and English.
Co-authored: Portuguese Chapter, in European Energy Handbook (Eleventh Edition, 2019 - 2020) (pp. 422-432). Herbert Smith Freehills.
Co-authored: Portuguese Chapter, in European Energy Handbook (Tenth Edition, 2017) (pp. 384-393). Herbert Smith Freehills.
Co-authored: “Project Finance in Portugal: Overview”, in Project Finance Global Guide (2017). Thomson Reuters´ Practical Law.
New Frontiers of the Principle of Impartiality, “Novas Fronteiras do Princípio da Imparcialidade”, in Estudos em Homenagem a Mário Esteves de Oliveira (2017) (pp. 1047-1071). Almedina.