Sónia Afonso Vasques
Throughout her professional career, Sónia has provided legal advice to public entities (local authorities, public sector companies, among others) and to private entities, both national and foreign, on all matters of public law. She has specialized in municipal law, public procurement (including the contract execution phase), and administrative litigation.
Sónia also has extensive experience in urban planning and land use, advising real estate developers on pre-approval urban planning procedures for tourism and local accommodation projects, the construction of retail establishments, and residential developments.
She has been involved in urban due diligence of real estate assets, assessing their construction capacity and relevant urban constraints. Additionally, she provides legal representation in urban management litigation cases.
She also oversees expropriation processes and advises clients on matters related to water public domain, including judicial recognition of private property. Sónia is responsible for the Public Law and Urban Planning areas at PARES.
- Portuguese
- English
- Spanish
Career Path
- Partner at PARES since December 2022
- Coordinator of the Public Law and Urban Planning and Land Use areas at PARES since 2022
- Associate Lawyer at PARES since 2011
- Associate Lawyer at Abreu Advogados (2006-2011)
- Associate Lawyer at the law firm Espanha & Associados (2005)
- Trainee Lawyer at Simmons & Simmons, Rebelo de Sousa & Associados (2003-2005)
- Author of the book "Intimações no Regime Jurídico da Urbanização e Edificação", Almedina, 2013
- Trainer at INA
- Arbitrator at the Administrative Arbitration Centre (CAAD)
- Speaker at various seminars and conferences in the areas of Public Procurement and Urban Planning
Academic Training
- Master's Degree in Juridical-Political Sciences from the Faculty of Law, University of Lisbon – “Intimações no Regime Jurídico da Urbanização e Edificação” (2009)
- Postgraduate Course in Local Authorities Law, Institute of Juridical-Political Sciences, Faculty of Law, University of Lisbon (2005)
- Law Degree from the Faculty of Law, University of Lisbon (2003)
