The presence of women in law is today an absolutely unavoidable fact
SÉRVULO IN THE PRESS 21 Apr 2019 in Pontos de Vista
SÉRVULO is one of the leading law firms in Portugal and has maintained a position of prestige and credibility. Ana Luísa Guimarães, a partner in SÉRVULO's department of Public Law , tells us about the role of women in the law sector and in society, based on her experience and professional background.
How can the brand maintain this position and what are the real challenges facing law firms today?
SÉRVULO has been able to maintain a coherent position in the legal market. It has opted for a clear focus on highly complex and non-mass legal services and, at the same time, highly qualified lawyers, a combination that has produced excellent results.
The biggest challenge for law firms today is efficiency and striking a balance between the means used/ results produced that responds to the increasing pressure from clients on fees.
And what about women? What role do women currently play in a sector associated until very recently with men?
The presence of women in law is an unavoidable fact today. Female lawyers are often very dedicated and hard-working and this has now enabled them to earn peer and client recognition of the quality of their legal work. Unfortunately, however, the top and managerial positions in law firms are still predominantly occupied by men. The same gender bias is true of the choice clients make to hand over the responsibility for handling their problem/legal matter. This is the missing step.
You have been with SÉRVULO since 2008 as a partner in the Public Law Department. Looking back at your extensive career, what motivates and inspires you on a daily basis?
I have just realised that I graduated precisely 20 years ago, in 1999. But I do not see these 20 years as a long career. And I still feel like an apprentice, in law and in life. I'm in a great phase of my professional life too. So, I really benefit from being between two generations of lawyers.
What motivates me daily is to solve clients’ problems and do everything in my power to take the best possible decisions.
How can we describe Ana Luísa Guimarães as a woman and a lawyer?
The last few years, as I approached 40, have been very enriching, both personally and professionally. It is a deep awareness of the finite, the people, the good and the bad, and the world around us. Until then, it was all a joke ... And as a result of this process, serenity is a value that I now have, both on a personal and professional level. But I am still highly engaged, with all that is good and less good about it. I am not indifferent.
Despite my focus on public law in recent years, my view on the law has never been really funnelled, and I want this less and less. For Law to be realised, it must be porous. You must be close to real life, understand people, organisations and approach decision centres. So, I decided to do an MBA, which I am completing at AESE Business School. It has awakened me to a set of realities that were very distant to me.
Read the full interview here.