As the recognised lawyer, what do you consider to be the greatest achievements of your career?
I would dare say that quality and consistency are the achievement: we are what we do consistently. Over 30 years after I first started.
What advice would you give to lawyers in junior positions to encourage them to work towards success?
The best advice I could share is to never stop studying and to always pay attention to the client and to detail. Knowledge of the client, heed for its specific needs and an extensive and profound mastery of the law are key to a rewarding career as lawyer: Knowledge is trust.
What does your firm do to nurture and promote talent?
All our trainees and junior lawyers work closely with the senior practitioners and are involved, from the very beginning of their engagement with the firm, in attending to the most complex transactional and litigation work. Experience and knowledge cannot really be passed on or transmitted, but needs to be shared at every step, enabling the development of one’s own.
Market trends
What trends from 2021 do you see sticking around into 2022 and beyond in your field of expertise?
We will certainly be witnessing the continued adaptation of the work environment and working tools, notably on international and cross-border transactions and litigation. In the long run, though, I believe that the pandemic will show to have been an accelerator of previous latent trends and expectations.
Given the current conditions in your country what would you consider to be the market outlook over the coming year?
The legal market is often characterised by running at least in part counter-cyclical: where for some reason the economy tends to contract or to show increased risk adversity, there tends to be an increase in demand for legal services. We expect to continue to see that happening.
Are there any upcoming regulatory changes or initiatives that investors should be aware of?
As is publicly known, the overall legal framework for the gaming industry is currently undergoing public consultation, with a view to reshaping the industry after the end of the current gaming concessions.
The public consultation document is clear in identifying significant challenges ahead. On the other hand, the Greater Bay Initiative and the expected progress on implementation will certainly raise significant opportunities and challenges.
What is the one thing you think the IFLR’s international audience should know about how to successfully do business in your market?
Choose your lawyers wisely: Knowledge is trust.
João Nuno Riquito
Managing partner
Riquito Advogados
T: +853 2838 9918
João Nuno Riquito is the managing partner at Riquito Advogados.
João has a wealth of experience in the practice areas of corporate/M&A, contracts/contractual investment, restructuring, IP, litigation and arbitration, banking and finance, capital markets, foreign investment, corporate finance, real estate, aviation, labour and employment, private equity, project finance, gaming and hospitality, and taxation.
João is a member of the Portuguese Bar Association, the Macau Bar Association and the International Bar Association, and was a visiting auxiliary professor at the University of Macau from 1991 to 1999.
