Meet the Team
We have extensive experience in the banking, blockchain, and energy industries. Notwithstanding the industries we focus our services, we have experience in the fields of mergers and acquisitions, corporate and tax strategic investments, takeovers, shareholder activism, corporate and securities law, corporate governance, environment, energy and issues regarding immigration, specially to help our existing clients to move to the EU. We handle some of the most complex and demanding transactions in the blockchain industry in Portugal, the EU and South America. We also handle sensitive litigation, arbitration and administrative matters and counsel boards of directors and senior management in the most sensitive situations.
Marcio Matos de Oliveira
Board Member, Managing Partner and
Head of Corporate Practice
email: mm@mmlaw.pt
Marcio is the Managing Partner and head of the Tax & Corporate Practice at MMLaw, bringing over 23 years of legal expertise across four jurisdictions, with a focus on M&A, tax, international corporate structures, contracts, banking, and securities.
He has successfully guided a broad spectrum of clients, ranging from startups to leading international organizations, in sectors such as Fintech, Banking, Energy (Oil & Gas), and has spent the last decade specializing in Blockchain and Crypto Projects.
Marcio's approach is characterized by delivering customized solutions, leveraging his vast experience and an extensive network of financial and regulatory professionals.
He holds a Master of Laws (LLM) from the University of Dundee, Scotland, and a Bachelor's Degree in Law (J.D.) from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ), Brazil.
Marcio is fluent in Portuguese (native), English, and French, and proficient in Spanish and Italian.
Gonçalo de Araújo e Gama​
Associate
email: gg@mmlaw.pt
Gonçalo is an associate lawyer working in the legal fields of Blockchain and Fintech. He is also a biochemical scientist and a technology entushiast. Gonçalo has a Bachelor in Law, a Master’s Degree in Trasnational Law and in Law in the Digital Economy, with a minor in European Law and authored a Master Thesis on Blockchain, Privacy and Data Protection from Universidade Católica Portuguesa and Católica Global School. He is also a Bachelor in Applied Biology, He has worked as a legal intern in SRS Legal (Lisbon) in the Life Sciences and Pharmaceutical Department, and later as litigation lawyer for 3 years in two different law offices across Portugal. Complementarily, he also worked with the Portuguese Government and the Portuguese Navy to expand Portugal’s oceanic territorial jurisdiction (EMEPC) and as an Environmental Consultant in the southern African island of Mauritius.
Combined with his fluency in four different languages, his eclectic perspective and broad skill set are a powerful addition to our legal team, enabling us to handle multidisciplinary complex cases with confidence and stand out competitively.
Gonçalo speaks Portuguese (native), English (proficient), Spanish (proficient) and French (intermediary).
Maria Milagros SantaMaria
Head of the Blockchain Practice
Milagros is the head of blockchain industry practice. She is specialized in both new technologies (Web3, Blockchain, AI) and Corporate Law. Her experience is extensive, holding the position of Senior Lawyer at MMLaw, an international law firm based in Lisbon, Portugal, and head of their Blockchain Department.
Milagros has also a strong academic background, holding professorships at Universidad Austral and IAE Business School, collaborating with ADEN International Business School. She is an observer member of the Texas Department of Agriculture within the OIV, where she focuses on the applicability of blockchain technology within the wine industry.
She holds a law degree from the Universidad de Mendoza (Argentina), and also went to University of Lisbon (winner of the 2017 Santander's IberoAmerican Scholarship). She has a Master's degree in Business Law from ADEN International Business School, and is currently undergoing several specializations on Compliance and AI applied to Business.
Milagros speaks Spanish (native), English (fluent), Portuguese (fluent), French (fluent), Spanish and Italian (proficient).
MIiguel de souSa aroso
Senior Lawyer
email: ms@mmlaw.pt
Miguel is a distinguished graduate of Católica School of Law in Lisbon, with an advanced degree in AI and Law from the Universidade de Lisboa Law Faculty, further enriched by a certification in the same field from Lund University in Sweden.
His specialization within the blockchain industry lies at the intersection of blockchain, artificial intelligence, and law. At MMLaw, Miguel heads the International Contracts, Corporate and Real Estate Practices, where he applies his wide-ranging expertise to address modern legal challenges and deliver innovative, strategic solutions for clients.
Miguel negotiates and drafts both international and domestic contracts related to corporate matters, including token acquisitions, SAFTs, token warrants, equity distributions, arbitration, and labor relations between corporations and their employees or service providers, particularly within the blockchain and fintech industries. His expertise allows him to address the specific nuances of these relationships, with a strong focus on liability issues and the transformative impact AI and blockchain have on these sectors.
Prior to his focus on these emerging fields, Miguel gained extensive experience across a broad array of legal areas, including labor, criminal, contract, and commercial law.
Outside of his legal career, Miguel is passionate about travel and sports, which provide him with a global perspective and a balanced approach to his work.
He is fluent in Portuguese and English, with an intermediate proficiency in Spanish.
diogo reis
Senior Lawyer
email: dr@mmlaw.pt
Diogo holds a law degree from a Brazilian institution and is currently pursuing a Master's in Legal Sciences, specialising in Criminal Law, at the University of Lisbon Law Faculty, where exploring the conflicts and challenges these issues present in modern regulatory frameworks, particularly in the context of blockchain technology.
At MMLaw, Diogo heads Domestic Tax, Real Estate and Regulatory, advising clients on a wide range of complex matters, from corporate tax structuring to compliance with Portuguese and European tax regulations. His expertise also extends to corporate and financial law, providing a solid foundation in Tax, Corporate, and Criminal Law.
His career is distinguished by his proven ability to analyse and manage complex cases, offer in-house legal consultancy, lead multidisciplinary teams, and devise strategic solutions, always prioritizing excellence and operational efficiency.
Fluent in Portuguese (native) and proficient in English, Diogo is well-equipped to work with diverse clients and navigate legal challenges on an international scale.
Rafaela Oliveira
Chief Financial Officer (CFO)
email: ro@mmlaw.pt
Rafaela is graduated in Law, where she played a fundamental role as a partner and CFO in a law firm for 16 years. In MMLaw, she holds the position of coordinator and case portfolio manager, serving companies and high net worth individuals. Her experience includes providing the firm with a comprehensive view of the challenges facing modern organizations. She has a solid understanding of the financial and strategic complexities that permeate the corporate world. In MMLaw, her role also covers a wide range of functions, including strategic planning, project management and supervise multidisciplinary teams.
Rafaela speaks Portuguese (native), English (proficient), and Spanish (intermediate).
Guilherme Lima
Blockchain Technical Consultant
Guilherme Lima is an external blockchain technical consultant for MMLaw who help us to liaise the intricate technical issues to the legal analysis we develop in the firm. He has been working in the crypto ecossystem since 2017. He is the co-founder of DREXFY (a Fintech in the blockchain ecosystem) His diverse experience includes cryptocurrency mining, DeFi, asset tokenization and smart contract development. As co-founder of Drexfy and leader of Polygon Guild Lisbon, he also manages technological projects and workshops, standing out for his ability to tokenize assets with Ethereum Virtual Machines (EVMs), recognized with awards in hackathons from the Ethereum Foundation and Ripple.
Also with a background in robotics, Guilherme was an instructor and champion at the FIRST Robotics Competition in Washington DC. He is certified by the NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute in AI / Machine Learning for Computer Vision and serves as a mentor at NOVA SBE's Web3 accelerator.
Guilherme is a versatile professional, specialized in transforming technical complexities into innovative and strategic solutions, especially for the legal and business sector.
Guilherme speaks Portuguese (native), and English (fluent).
edoardo farina
Trainee and Blockchain Technical Advisor
Edoardo is a trainee lawyer whose qualification is a combination of legal expertise and a deep knowledge of the technical issues regarding the blockchain ecossystem, where he has been a reference for blockchain communities with hundreds of thousands of users. He also make presentations for large audiences on this regard. Such combination brings to the table the multiple nuances of the industry, and keep us updated on market trends, enabling us to apply his expertise on the ever changing blockchain legal and regulatory environment.