We are very honoured to announce that Professor Mariana França Gouveia has joined PLMJ Arbitration. Mariana França Gouveia earned her law degree from the Faculty of Law of Universidade Nova de Lisboa where she is associate professor. She has a doctorate in procedural law, with a thesis on "The causa petendi". Among other subjects, Mariana has lectured on introduction to arbitration, alternative dispute resolution, theory of process, civil procedure law, enforcement procedure law and civil procedural practice. She also coordinates the first Portuguese postgraduate course in arbitration (now in its sixth edition) and a litigation and arbitration law master's (which is unique in Portugal). In addition, she is on the roster of arbitrators at a number of arbitration centres in Portugal, and is regularly appointed as arbitrator. In July 2015, she was invited on secondment to the London office of Wilmer Hale at the invitation of Gary Born. She is the author of a vast collection of scientific works, among others, in the areas of arbitration law and civil procedure law. Over the last six years she was a consultant in the litigation and arbitration practice of SRS Advogados and is vice-president of the Lisbon Commercial Arbitration Centre (CCIP), a member of the ICC Arbitration Committee and of ICC Portuguese national Committee. According to José-Miguel Júdice, Head of PLMJ Arbitration, "we are very pleased with Mariana França Gouveia's decision to join PLMJ Arbitration. As a professor, arbitrator and lawyer, she is at the forefront of arbitration theory and practice. With Mariana, we continue to invest heavily in the quality of PLMJ Arbitration to better serve our clients in Portugal and, increasingly, abroad. She will also be crucial to our focus on private and commercial law arbitration cases." PLMJ Arbitration currently has more than 20 lawyers of five different nationalities, including eight partners. They have unparalleled experience in representing clients in arbitrations in five languages (Portuguese, English, Spanish, French and German) in a range of jurisdictions. PLMJ is the only Portuguese law firm with an arbitration team that is independent from the litigation team. This truly international practice has enabled PLMJ to be named one of the 100 best law firms in the world for arbitration by the leading publication Global Arbitration Review. It is the first Portuguese firm to have achieved this position.