Leading Lisbon-based law firm Miranda & Associados (Miranda) has been named Lusophone Africa Law Firm of the Year in the Chambers Africa Awards 2018, which were released on 8th February 2018.
Miranda was shortlisted for the Award for the Africa work it has been doing for the last 30 years alongside its partner firms within the Miranda Alliance, the international network of law firms it founded, alongside four other lusophone law firms, Lisbon-based Abreu Advogados, PLMJ and VdA, and Rio de Janeiro-based Tauil & Chequer Advogados in association with Mayer Brown.
The Awards are the product of research undertaken as part of the annual Chambers Global publication, the guide to the world’s leading lawyers, the 2018 edition of which is published on February 15th, 2018. Chambers Global covers over 190 countries and includes Region-wide and Global-wide sections and involves input from over 170 researchers.
In announcing Miranda the Lusophone Africa Law Firm of the Year 2018, the Judges noted:
“This leading Portuguese firm and its legal network, the Miranda Alliance, are highly active in the projects and energy arena and are involved in an enviable line-up of PPP mandates and project financing matters. Operating in Angola since 1992, Miranda & Associados has exponentially expanded its footprint in the Lusophone African market over the last couple of decades. The firm is also increasing its presence in Francophone Africa, including the addition of a member office in Côte d'Ivoire”.
Commenting on the Award, Diogo Xavier da Cunha, Miranda’s Managing Partner, says:
“This is the second Award Miranda has won in the last year recognising the strength and depth of our Africa practice, and the long-standing and continuing commitment of Miranda and the Miranda Alliance to the continent, where we already have over 30 years’ experience in Sub-Sahara investment, development and growth.
Our aim in Africa, as elsewhere, is to provide our clients with international levels of service alongside very local and sector specific know how. This means that we have always been conscious that it is not possible to simply impose a one-size-fits-all approach.
In each of the 11 countries in Sub-Sahara in which Miranda Alliance currently has a presence, there is invariably a special investment regime or tailor-made statutes, often in relation to oil and gas and natural resources, that deviates significantly from the general business legislation. Our understanding of these regimes, our ability to protect clients’ interests, and having sufficient local insight to anticipate future issues, only comes with a deep understanding of local legal and commercial nuances.
This is the strategy we have taken in Africa since we first began working in Angola, and which continues to serve our clients well throughout Lusophone Africa and in Francophone Africa, where we now have the largest Sub-Saharan network of any international law firm. It means that we are able to bring established expertise to those countries at the early development stage, while also introducing new and cutting-edge solutions – tested elsewhere – in the more experienced countries. Our commitment to Africa is a long term one, as is evidenced by the historic relationships that we have built with a number of our Miranda Alliance partner firms, which we have helped growing and becoming market leaders in their countries. It is the Miranda way”.