Strategic Partnerships
Engagement with Society
The challenges of today’s technological society require interaction with various public and private organisations. This interaction must favour a collaborative attitude and the search for multidisciplinary partnerships that add value to the curricular approaches of NOVA School of Law.
The partnerships that we currently have, and those that may emerge in the future, will always reflect an attitude of collaboration and a diversity of fields and sectors. From law to banking, from technology to consumers, we seek to develop close relationships with all our partner organisations.
This is the path we want to follow to fulfil one of NOVA School of Law’s vocations: “openness to society, to the new branches of law and to the other social sciences, with particular attention to the contemporary evolution of public life and its new problems”.
Abreu & Associados is one of the most prestigious law firms in Portugal, with recognised merits in the fields of environmental law and sustainability, where it has been a pioneer. For this reason, NOVA School of Law, seeking to adapt its teaching to the most current issues of legal debate in the field of the environment, has signed a protocol of cooperation with Abreu & Associados and its Knowledge Institute from October 2021, which includes the teaching of a curricular unit by one of its associates and the financial contribution to the NOVA Green Lab Knowledge Centre, namely through the creation of the Abreu Chair in ESG Impact, attributed to Professor Lucila de Almeida.
The collaboration between NOVA School of Law and Abreu Advogados also includes the teaching of Interdisciplinary Legal Practice and, more recently, the protocol for the creation of «Market-oriented Master’s Degrees», in order to give Master’s students direct contact with practical legal issues and prepare them to respond to professional challenges and an increasingly demanding labour market. This avant-garde project also includes other partner organisations such as Novo Nordisk, Lusíadas, Luz Saúde and Unbabel, as well as the following companies: Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados and VdA, Vieira de Almeida Sociedade de Advogados.
Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados is a law firm with long experience and a high reputation in the Portuguese and international market, working in all areas of law and advising a wide range of business sectors.
The partnership with NOVA School of Law dates to 2002 – with the aim of teaching the subject of Interdisciplinary Legal Practice, which continues to this day – and has intensified continuously since then. More recently, in 2022, Morais Leitão joined the project to create the NOVA Knowledge Centre for Legal Argumentation (NOVA Argumentation), a knowledge centre integrated into the NOVA School of Law and dedicated to research and training in the field of legal argumentation, coordinated by Professor Luís Duarte d’Almeida.
In 2023, with the aim of bringing young people and university education closer to the exercise of professional functions, a protocol was signed with NOVA School of Law for the creation of «Market-Focused Master’s Degrees», a pioneering project in Portugal, with other partner organisations such as Novo Nordisk, Lusíadas, Luz Saúde and Unbabel, as well as the law firms Abreu Advogados and VdA, Vieira de Almeida Sociedade de Advogados.
PLMJ stands out on the national scene as one of the law firms with the largest volume of business, advising multinational companies and state institutions. Since 2002, it has been a key partner of NOVA School of Law in the professional integration of its graduates.
The initial agreement was for the teaching of Interdisciplinary Legal Practice – which continues to this day – and has been strengthened over the years to include support for research, with particular emphasis on the NOVA Knowledge Centre for Business, Human Rights and the Environment, coordinated by Professor Claire Bright, in the context of the umbilical relationship between the Faculty and the legal labour market.
VdA, Vieira de Almeida Sociedade de Advogados is a leading international law firm with over 40 years of history, recognised for its innovative approach to corporate legal services.
In 2021, it partnered with NOVA School of Law to create WhatNext.Law, a research centre that brings together legal professionals, academics, and private and public entities to explore the most important legal issues of the future, with the aim of shaping discussion and research, developing skills and disseminating knowledge on current and future legal, economic and social challenges. The Centre is directed by Margarida Lima Rego, João Vieira de Almeida and Magda Cocco, and includes NOVA School of Law professors Fabrizio Esposito and Vera Lúcia Raposo (Executive Committee), Athina Sachoulidou, Claire Bright, Miguel de Azevedo Moura, Giulia Priora and Graça Canto Moniz (Scientific Committee).
With the aim of providing a rich and immersive experience for Master’s students, offering them a practical and applied view of law in a real-life context, VdA, Vieira de Almeida Sociedade de Advogados and NOVA School of Law also signed a protocol for the creation of «Market-Focused Master’s Programmes», which also includes Novo Nordisk, Lusíadas, Luz Saúde and Unbabel as partners, as well as Abreu Advogados and Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados.
The collaboration between the VdA and NOVA School of Law also includes the teaching of Interdisciplinary Legal Practice.
Google is one of the five largest technology companies in the world and is seeking to diversify its activities into areas such as e-commerce, cloud management and artificial intelligence.
The partnership with NOVA School of Law is linked to the need to combine technological law with business. In this sense, the cooperation protocol signed in August 2021 is characterised by the teaching of a curricular unit in the field of law and technology, which also includes the creation of the Google Chair for Data Governance, awarded to Professor Graça Canto Moniz, and the creation of a network with various researchers, including, from NOVA School of Law, Professor Fabrizio Esposito and Professor Athina Sachoulidou.
The ‘Google Data Governance Chair’ brings together four universities from Southern Europe: Spain’s CEU San Pablo University, Italy’s RomaTre University, Greece’s National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and Portugal’s NOVA School of Law. The project’s Scientific Committee is chaired by Professor José Luís Piñar Mañas (San Pablo) and includes Professors Georgios Yannopoulos (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Graça Canto Moniz (NOVA School of Law) and Vincenzo Zeno Zencovich (RomaTre).
The partnership will last until the end of the 24/25 academic year
Fundada em 1975, a Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq “MSFT”) é, indiscutívelmente, líder mundial em software, serviços e soluções.
Com a NOVA School of Law partilha a visão de que é necessário capacitar as pessoas para que possam atingir o seu pleno potencial. Com este protocolo, pretende-se, desta forma, trabalhar em conjunto para empoderar e capacitar os/as estudantes – e, de forma mais abrangente, toda a nossa Comunidade Académica – para que possam prosperar na economia digital, através do acesso a ferramentas, experiências e oportunidades de aprendizagem que lhes permitam desenvolver as competências necessárias para um futuro de sucesso.
Os nossos e as nossas juristas aprendem a comunicar em contextos globais e multidisciplinares e, por isso, devem sentir-se à vontade para comunicar em diferentes línguas, incluíndo a linguagem tecnológica.
Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD) is a major player in the Portuguese financial market. Founded in 1876 as a joint stock company by the Portuguese State, it is one of the most important institutions in Portugal, wholly owned by the Portuguese Republic.
Its partnership with NOVA School of Law goes back a long way, in terms of employability, funding and patronage, and is part of a long-term institutional collaboration. After a brief hiatus, the partnership was resumed and relaunched in 2024, with the current protocol running until the end of the 2028/29 academic year.
Santander is one of the commercial banks with the largest market share in Portugal and is among the 20 largest banks in the world.
Santander’s partnership with NOVA School of Law is part of a long-term institutional collaboration, consisting of patronage and support for research at NOVA School of Law through scholarships and support for technological development. The agreement runs until the end of 2024.
A Synalagma/Euroconsumers é uma associação europeia de defesa dos direitos dos consumidores, que integra várias associações nacionais do mesmo cariz (como a portuguesa DECO) com o objetivo de evitar práticas de concertação de preços entre empresas concorrentes e garantir a liberdade de escolha do/a consumidor/a.
A relação com a NOVA School of Law está protocolada até setembro de 2025, tendo como grande objetivo a realização de atividades conjuntas entre as duas instituições, com particular destaque para a organização da Consumer Academy.
Experiencing the future
Market-driven Master's programmes
NOVA School of Law is at the forefront of integrating academia and the business world with the launch of an innovative research model for Master’s theses.
This pioneering project, the first of its kind in Portugal, involves close collaboration with partner organisations, both public and private, from the national and international market. The research topics, proposed by the partners and focused on new technologies, are developed by the students with the support of elements from the partners and scientific guidance from NOVA School of Law lecturers.
This model allows for a rich and immersive experience, offering students a practical and applied view of law in a real-world context.
Founding Partners: Abreu Advogados | Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares da Silva & Associados | VdA, Vieira de Almeida Sociedade de Advogados | Novo Nordisk | Lusíadas | Luz Saúde | Unbabel
Are you interested in a partnership with NOVA School of Law?
Contact us at the following email address: corporate@novalaw.unl.pt