Pérez-Llorca Launches Abu Dhabi Office, Strengthening Middle East Strategy

Pérez-Llorca has announced the launch of its operations in Abu Dhabi, completing one of the firm’s main international growth initiatives for 2026. The opening reinforces the firm’s commitment to the Middle East, a key region for global investment, and forms part of its international roadmap, which also includes its recently announced entry into the Peruvian market.

Located in Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM), the emirate’s international financial centre, the new office will strengthen Pérez-Llorca’s relationships with leading Middle Eastern financial institutions and support their investments across the jurisdictions where the firm operates. The Abu Dhabi team will work closely with Pérez-Llorca’s offices in Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Colombia and Peru, as well as with its Lusophone Africa practice coordinated from Lisbon and its professionals in London, New York, Brussels and Singapore.

With this opening, Pérez-Llorca becomes the first Ibero-American law firm to establish a physical presence in Abu Dhabi.

The office is led by partner Gonçalo Capela Godinho, who has nearly 25 years of international experience, including several years in Latin America and New York. He has extensive experience advising on complex cross-border transactions and played a key role in establishing and rapidly consolidating Pérez-Llorca’s Lisbon office.

Capela Godinho said that Abu Dhabi has established itself as one of the world’s leading international financial centres and as a meeting point for some of the most significant institutional investors globally. According to him, the firm’s presence in the region will strengthen relationships with existing clients while enabling closer support for investors involved in some of the world’s most significant transactions.

Arvind Ramamurthy, Chief Market Development Officer of ADGM, said Pérez-Llorca’s decision to establish an office in Abu Dhabi reflects the Gulf’s growing importance in international investment and business activity. He added that, as capital becomes increasingly global, demand for sophisticated legal and strategic advice continues to grow, and that the firm’s arrival further strengthens the breadth and depth of professional services available at ADGM while reinforcing Abu Dhabi’s role as a platform for international investment and commerce.

Commitment to the Region
The launch of the office comes amid a complex geopolitical environment in the region. However, Pérez-Llorca maintains a long-term view of the Middle East and considers that the economic fundamentals driving growth and international investment across the Gulf remain unchanged.