Experience & Trust.

Founding partner of Ilídio Cruz & Associados. A law graduate of the University of Coimbra, he devoted his career to the service of Cape Verde's institutions and rule of law.

During the democratic transition of 1990–91 he served as Legal Counsel to the President of the Republic — an experience that shapes the firm's vocation in public law and its relationship with institutions.

In 1991 he founded the office that gave rise to the firm, with an established practice in civil, commercial and institutional law in Praia. His practice spans public and administrative law, corporate, real estate and litigation.

An Associate at Ilídio Cruz & Associados, and a native of the island of Santo Antão. A law graduate of the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon, she holds a postgraduate qualification in Company and Employment Law (Fundação Direito e Justiça and the IDET, Faculty of Law of the University of Coimbra) and completed the Administrative Litigation Course of the National Institute of Administration (INA), in Oeiras, Portugal.

Her practice spans civil, commercial, administrative, economic, tax and employment law, alongside legal consultancy and the negotiation and drafting of contracts.

She brings experience in the drafting of legal instruments and the issuing of legal opinions, as well as management and advisory roles across the public administration and the corporate sector — she served as Inspector-General of Health, legal adviser to the Secretary of State for State Reform and Decentralisation, and a technical officer of the Coordination Unit for the Privatisation and Institutional Regulatory Capacity-Building Project.

She is a member of the Cape Verde Bar Association and the European Association of Lawyers, and works in Portuguese, French, English and Spanish.

A native of São Vicente, she is an Associate at Ilídio Cruz & Associados and a member of the Cape Verde Bar Association (Ordem dos Advogados de Cabo Verde) since 2014. She holds a law degree from the Instituto de Estudos Superiores Isidoro da Graça (IESIG), now Universidade do Mindelo, and further trained in mediation and arbitration through courses run by the Instituto Superior de Ciências Jurídico-Sociais (ISCJS) with the Fundação Direito e Justiça (FDJ).

Her practice spans civil and criminal law, administrative law, labour law and commercial law. She assists in preparing legal opinions and in drafting civil, commercial and employment contracts.

She has experience in the recovery and enforcement of defaulted bank debt, through both judicial and negotiated channels. Holding a trainer-training qualification (ISCEE and IEFP), she teaches law at the Escola Secundária Privada Claridade and has taken part in legal conferences at the Universidade do Mindelo.