PLMJ advises on the entry of ABC Global Alliance into Portugal

The international organisation, Advanced Breast Cancer Global Alliance (ABC Global Alliance) focuses on collaborating on common projects relating to advanced breast cancer. It has now set up an office in Portugal following a process for which PLMJ provided legal support on a pro bono basis.

The mission of ABC Global Alliance is “to improve and extend the lives of women and men living with ABC in all countries worldwide and to fight for a cure”. It currently has approximately 190 members from more than 90 countries. They represent health professionals, patients' associations, the pharmaceutical industry, and researchers, among others.

“We had to explain to our member organisations from more than 90 different countries, in different time zones, and with different legislation, the legal requirements to establish the association, giving it legal personality and preparing its existence for an indefinite period of time. At PLMJ, we always found someone with great skill, diligence and good will, who always stayed by our side to overcome obstacles”, says Fatima Cardoso, oncologist and president of ABC Global Alliance, who was recently awarded the Advanced Breast Cancer Award 2019.

PLMJ provided legal support over several months and this culminated with the “live” completion of a public deed, on 16 November, at the FIL conference centre in Lisbon. This event took place during the 5th International Consensus Conference for Advanced Breast Cancer, which brought 1500 world experts to Portugal, many of whom were representatives of the members of ABC Global Alliance.

The pro bono legal assistance to ABC Global Alliance was led by Patrícia Dias Mendes, the director of the PLMJ Foundation who deals with a range of legal initiatives in the context of social impact. For this lawyer “it is very reassuring for our firm to provide quality legal services in projects with enormous value and social impact, as is the case of defending the rights of patients with advanced breast cancer. Moreover, this work is a perfect fit for our decision-making criteria, in the form of providing legal services to non-profit organisations that support social and charitable causes that are in the public interest.”