Manuel joined DTA in May 2017 and has since focused his practice in assisting local and foreign businesses, non-governmental organizations, and international development partners in a broad range of legal issues, including legislative and public policy drafting, corporate, commercial and banking law, intellectual property, telecommunications, real estate / property development, and labour / social security matters.
Prior to joining DTA, Manuel worked at prominent Portuguese law firms Uría Menéndez and Abreu Advogados, having acquired in-depth knowledge in and developed a strong interest for corporate and banking law, intellectual property, arbitration, and employment law.
Manuel is active in the development of Timorese academia, working with the National University of Timor-Leste (UNTL) in drafting, editing, and publishing law books on a myriad of legal issues, including most recently the Commemorative Studies for the Restoration of Independence of Timor-Leste.
Manuel takes a leading role in the firm’s public policy and legislative drafting practice, having assisted the Timorese Government and National Parliament, through the engagement of various international organizations, in the drafting and approval process of laws and policies addressing a rainbow of matters, such as insolvency, industrial property, copyright, electronic commerce, data protection, cybercrime, cybersecurity, and secured transactions reform.
Manuel holds a Law Degree (Licenciatura) and a Master’s Degree (Mestrado) from the Portuguese Catholic University in Porto, where he received the Professor João Baptista Machado award for his Master’s Thesis (18/20). Manuel has continued to develop further studies and obtained postgraduate degrees/certificates in Banking, Securities and Insurance Law, and in Corporate Law, both from the University of Coimbra, as well as in Intellectual Property Law from the Portuguese Catholic University, and in Science of Legislation and Legistics, from the University of Lisbon.
Manuel speaks Portuguese, English, and Tetum.