João initiated his professional career in 1994 at Abreu, Cardigos & Associados. In 2001, he joined Andersen´s Legal Portuguese Law Firm as a Senior Associate and, since 2005, with the incorporation of Garrigues Portugal, he has developed his activity in the Litigation and Arbitration practice area at Garrigues Portugal. In 2009, João was promoted to partner at Garrigues Portugal and, since then, he is the head partner in charge of this area of practice at national level (Lisboa and Porto).

His practice has focused on advising and representing companies on commercial, corporate and M&A, finance, real estate and construction disputes, with particular emphasis on complex and high-value disputes, many of them with a strong international component (cross-border disputes). He has extensive experience in court litigation and arbitration, acting as counsel in commercial domestic and international arbitrations (both ad-hoc and under the rules of national and international arbitral institutions).

He also offers regular pre-litigation advice and litigation risk assessment to his clients on the matters of his focus, namely advising on strategies to prevent, avoid or mitigate litigation risks and, if the dispute is unavoidable, how to face it in the best possible conditions.

Furthermore, he is the local partner appointed by Garrigues to assist and represent the Portuguese office in professional compliance matters (regulatory and AML).

• Advanced course “Accounting for Lawyers” at Lisbon School of Law (Portuguese Catholic University).
• Advanced course “Current issues in Corporate Law” at Lisbon School of Law (Portuguese Catholic University).
• Law degree at Lisbon School of Law (Portuguese Catholic University).

• Portuguese Bar Association.
• Circle of Litigation Lawyers (founding member).
• Portuguese Arbitration & ADR Committee of ICC.
• Portuguese Arbitration Association.
• Spanish Club of Arbitration.
• Concórdia.

João has been consistently recognized by leading legal directories such as Chambers & Partners in its Chambers Global and Europe’s edition and Legal 500.

Some client testimonials and quotes from legal directories:

• “He is an excellent and experienced litigator who inspires great confidence” (Chambers & Partners).
• “Sources laud department head João Duarte de Sousa for his accessibility, high-quality work and excellent results” (Chambers & Partners).
• “He is very flexible and adapts himself to the client’s needs very easily” (Chambers & Partners).
• “Garrigues fields a solid and responsive team. The technically very good João Duarte de Sousa...” (Legal 500).

Autor and co-author of various articles and papers:

• “The mortgage (and judicial sale) is no longer what it used to be” (*). Jornal Económico. 09/08/2021.
• “The Helms-Burton Act and the European Union” (*). Jornal de Negócios. 30/05/2019.
• "Intra-Community Investment Arbitration: amber alert!” (*). Advocatus. 01/05/2018.
• “Third Party Funding”. Jornal Económico. 13/10/2017.
• “The New Portuguese Arbitration Law: An Overview of its major innovations” (co-authorship). Spain Arbitration Review, nº 15. 2012.
• “From law to attitude” (*). Advocatus. March 2012.
• “Overview of Class Actions in Iberian and Latin American Law” (**) (co-authorship). Affinitas. 2008.

He also regularly publishes articles and papers in Garrigues publications:

• “Guide to restructuring tools and insolvency proceedings – Spain, Portugal and Latin America” (co-authorship). Garrigues. November 2020.
• “Joinder of third parties in International Arbitration”. Garrigues International Arbitration Newsletter. October 2020.
• “Arbitration in Portugal – An Overview”. Garrigues International Arbitration Guides. 2019.
• “Intra-EU investment arbitration: amber alert!”. Garrigues International Arbitration Newsletter. May 2018.

(*) Originally published in Portuguese. See Portuguese CV for more information. (**) Originally published in Spanish. See Spanish CV for more information.