MEET JO\u00c3O<\/span><\/h3>\nThe Portuguese lawyer is the Managing Partner of Vieira de Almeida (VdA) \u2013 one of the most important law firms in Portugal \u2013 where he chairs the Board of Directors and also the Executive Committee. The law firm, which was founded by his father, has grown significantly under Jo\u00e3o\u2019s leadership the last two decades. As a leader, he promotes a strong focus on culture and people, two driving forces that fostered VdA\u2019s unique team spirit and paved the way to its acknowledged innovation capacity and excellent client service. Jo\u00e3o is also a member of various Boards of Directors and is Chair of numerous Shareholders\u2019 Meetings of private and public companies. As an M&A and formerly also a Projects lawyer, Jo\u00e3o advised on many significant transactions, notably in Portugal and in Brazil (where he is also admitted to the Bar).<\/p>\n
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His father, Vasco Vieira de Almeida, was a renowned lawyer, self-affirmed Marxist, son of a philosophy teacher and a strong opposer to Ant\u00f3nio Oliveira de Salazar. A man with strong convictions, his father used to argue that he was not a partner type and enjoyed practicing law with just a small team of young lawyers, of which Jo\u00e3o was part as from 1985. It took Jo\u00e3o 10 years to convince his father to create an actual law firm. Jo\u00e3o took over as managing partner of VdA in 1996. Back then the firm had 16 lawyers (most were under 30 years old), today it is one of the three biggest law firms in Portugal with approximately 300 lawyers and a total of 450 professionals working in 13 jurisdictions.<\/p>\n
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At the beginning the firm had few, but very important clients \u2013 it was around that time that a strong team-spirited company culture started to form in VdA. Portugal was \u201cstarting\u201d: the country was going from a backwards economy to being a country with deals with several 1st world European countries, which VdA was taping into. During that time, Jo\u00e3o lead one of the cases that became a cornerstone for VdA involving a thermoelectric power plant. It allowed the firm to enter a sector which became very important: Project Finance. Other exciting projects, such as the construction of the Vasco da Gama Bridge, followed. The practice grew enormously at that period \u2013 it went from occupying a single floor to taking over a whole building. It was Jo\u00e3o\u2019s idea to transform VdA into a \u201csociedade\u201d \u2013 and actual law firm \u2013 in 1996. He was also responsible for transforming the image of the firm, inspired by the US and Europe modern practices, and he invested on a communication and brand image department – a controversial move at the time.<\/p>\n
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Jo\u00e3o is recognized as a strong, diplomatic and inclusive leader, but he is also seen by many as a charismatic \u201ccool guy\u201d who has been spotted playing drums in the firm\u2019s house band at events such as \u201cRock \u2018n\u2019 Law\u201d, where bands made up of lawyers raise funds for charity. His many virtues, and in particular, his people management skills, have won him widespread respect and praise. Jo\u00e3o is often referred to as the \u2018imagining partner\u2019 \u2013 and is well known in the firm for his contagious energy and sense of humor which he uses to cross boundaries and disarm people.<\/p>\n
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The firm\u2019s ethos is focused on the development of team players and this is reflected in everything, from the values embraced by the firm such as team spirit and communication on a first name basis, to the partnership structure, which is very close to a pure lockstep.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”55px”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css_animation=”element_from_fade” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” background_color=”#0a0a0a” anchor=”home” z_index=””][vc_column width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/4″][vc_empty_space height=”120px”][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n
‘I am blessed with the fact that I love people: I love knowing people, understanding people, trying to understand what motivates them. . . But also caring about people. Because people are the center of every business’.<\/span><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”20px”][vc_column_text el_class=”name-depo”]<\/p>\n
JO\u00c3O VIEIRA DE ALMEIDA<\/span><\/h5>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”140px”][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/4″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
[vc_row css_animation=”element_from_fade” row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”grid” angled_section=”no” text_align=”left” background_image_as_pattern=”without_pattern” background_color=”#ffffff” z_index=”” css=”.vc_custom_1564055759069{margin-top: 80px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/3″][vc_empty_space height=”100px”][vc_single_image image=”16706″ img_size=”full” qode_css_animation=””][vc_empty_space height=”5px”][vc_column_text] Episode [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”5px”][vc_video link=”https:\/\/youtu.be\/AIubp9TQy64″ align=”center”][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_column_text] Official links [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”5px”][vc_column_text] More about VdA [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_column_text] Hashtags [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=”5px”][vc_column_text] #joaovieiradealmeida #vieiradealmeidaeassociados #vascovieiradealmeida #law #lawfirm #lawpractice #portugal #management…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"full_width.php","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leadersinactionsociety.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16705"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leadersinactionsociety.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leadersinactionsociety.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leadersinactionsociety.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leadersinactionsociety.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16705"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.leadersinactionsociety.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16705\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16713,"href":"https:\/\/www.leadersinactionsociety.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16705\/revisions\/16713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leadersinactionsociety.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16705"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}