Pedro Marinho Falcão, a lawyer and reference professor in the field of taxation, graduated in Law at Universidade Portucalense, in 1988, with a final average of 16 points, which earned him the Fundação Eng. António de Almeida Award attributed to the best student of the year.

At the age of 15 when he attended the António Nobre high school in Porto, he chose a path of study. Due to the influence of his parents who would like him to study Management, combined with an “insufficient maturity”, Pedro Marinho Falcão decides to take up the science area. A decision he realized was not the right one, having corrected it at the end of the school year when he moved to Humanistics, where he declared himself “an excellent student”. He corrected the course and lost a year, but he would gain an entire professional life in return.

In 1983 he applied to the university and in 800 candidates he took the sixth place. The front row would begin to mark his academic path. It was on the banks of the classes that he met Nuno Cerejeira Namora, the partner with whom he has shared his professional life for 24 years in the law firm named after both.

Marinho Falcão recalls this period with an “intense academic life, serious study, knowledge and maturity” that became a “life experience”. António Ferreira de Cima and Mário Fontemanha were two friendships that were born at that time and last until today.

After finishing his degree, he interned at Pinto Carneiro’s office and, simultaneously, started his career as a university professor as an assistant in the “chair” of Real Rights at Universidade Portucalense. Currently, he teaches Tax Law I and Tax Law II (tax litigation).

In 1989, with Nuno Cerejeira Namora, he opened his own office in the city of Porto, Rua Gonçalo Cristovão. In 1997 it already has six people and Rua Santos Pousada was the address that followed. In 2002, there are 15 of them, and a new address happens – Rua Dr. Joaquim Pires de Lima, the current headquarters of the company where more than 40 employees work. Three moments that it intends to translate “growth cycles based on competence, commitment and dedication”.

In 2013, Pedro Marinho Falcão leads a medium-sized law firm that always seeks the best professionals in the market. But, what is the professional profile you are looking for? “The undergraduate degree is fundamental, because it means that you have studied, committed and that your work will have an impact on your profession. Anyone who finishes the course with a score of ten has no place in our office ”, he explains.

Since last year, the company has turned to a company specialized in recruitment to find the best human resources on the market. It indicates that “it is not easy to find good professionals” and that “after hiring, the experience is always followed by one year, even if that person has left the university with a final grade of 20. During this period, interaction with the partners is evaluated. work teams and customers. The capacity for internal and external relationships is fundamental and weighs 50% in the professional’s evaluation ”, he explains.

In the current adverse economic situation, the company Nuno Cerejeira Namora and Pedro Marinho Falcão recorded a 25% increase in turnover, which is explained by the increase in litigation within companies and banking entities. A success that, for Pedro Marinho Falcão, is based on the “capacity for dedication to the profession that often implies there are no schedules, weekends or holidays. Full availability can mean personal sacrifice and it is important to demonstrate that there is an ability to sacrifice for the profession ”.

He understands that being a lawyer currently faces many challenges: “Lawyers with isolated practice are conditioned, as they seek, more and more, professionals of various valences and specializations”. In addition to the differentiation, he highlights the need to follow technological developments, exemplifying with the progress registered in the last two decades: “at the beginning they asked me if I had a fax, then if I had a cell phone and more recently if I had an email address”.

When he completed his degree, a teacher said to him “now everything is missing” and that phrase always accompanies him. “The courses only give clues of knowledge, a constant update is necessary. Academic and curricular training is crucial for professional success ”, he stresses.

The demonstration of the irregular settlement of the Municipal Property Tax (IMI) was its “most symbolic” and perhaps the most media battle. 10 years from now, he expects a cycle of growth in the law firm and the university, with “more time for personal goals”.