Carla has been Counsel in Garrigues’ European Union and Competition Law Department since 2026. She previously held roles in both the public and private sectors, focusing on EU law and competition matters.

She worked as a lawyer in Lisbon and Brussels from 2003 to 2013, before serving as a référendaire at the Court of Justice of the EU in the cabinet of Judge José Luís da Cruz Vilaça (2013–2018), where she was involved in a broad range of proceedings across several areas of EU law, including preliminary rulings, direct actions, and appeals, notably in competition law, fundamental freedoms, WTO law, trademarks, and financial sector regulation.

From 2018 to 2022, she co-founded a boutique law firm in Lisbon with former Judge Cruz Vilaça and was a partner, handling a wide range of cases in EU law and Portuguese competition law.

In 2023, she advised the Portuguese Secretary of State for European Affairs on EU litigation and State aid matters.

Carla has also dedicated herself to academic activities, completing a PhD at Utrecht University on interim measures in EU law, with a focus on competition law and the digital sector. 

• PhD on interim measures in EU competition law, Utrecht University (2026).
• Advanced Management Program for Executives, Católica Lisbon School of Business & Economics (2019).
• LLM in EU Law, College of Europe, Bruges (2005).
• Law Degree, University of Lisbon, Faculty of Law (2003).

Carla is the author of several publications in peer-reviewed international journals and regularly participates in academic activities, including teaching and speaking at conferences. 

• Admitted to the Portuguese Bar Association (2006).
• Member of the Circle of Portuguese Competition Lawyers.
• Member of the Portuguese Association of European Law.

• Shortlisted by the Portuguese Government for the position of Judge at the Court of Justice of the EU and heard by the Portuguese Parliament (2024).
• ‘Shining Star’, W@Competition Iberia (2023).
• Nominee, Concurrences & George Washington University Antitrust Writing Awards (2023, 2024, 2026).
• Non-Governmental Advisor (NGA), Portuguese Competition Authority (2021).

• Commission’s evaluation of Regulation 1/2003 and Regulation 773/2004: implications for interim measures proceedings in competition law, European Competition Journal (2025).
• Interim measures in digital markets: The intersection between the Digital Markets Act (DMA) and Regulation 1/2003, Utrecht Law Review (2025).
• Are interim measures under Regulation 1/2003 excluded in new or complex cases?, Journal of European Competition Law & Practice (2023).
• Unlocking the power of the European Commission to order interim measures under Regulation 1/2003: An inquiry into the nature of the tool, Common Market Law Review (2022).
• Building the European Union, The Jurist’s View of the Union’s Evolution, co-editor with Koen Lenaerts, Nuno Piçarra, Alessandro Marciano & Frédèrique Rolin (Hart, 2021).
• The legality of EU acts in the light of WTO law, in ‘Building the European Union, The Jurist’s View of the Union’s Evolution’, eds. Koen Lenaerts et al. (Hart, 2021).
• Casino, Guichard-Perrachon and AMC v Commission, et al.: The Commission’s Powers of Inspection are Examined in the Light of the Charter, Journal of European Competition Law & Practice (2021).
• Access to confidential information in the financial and banking sectors: judgements of the Court of Justice in Altmann, Baumeister, UBS and Buccioni, Law and Financial Markets Review (2019).
• Primacy of EU law over national law and its implications for national courts, Review Julgar (Almedina, 2018).
• Commentary on the Portuguese Competition Law - Conimbricense Commentary (co-author), (Almedina, 2013 & 2017).
• Judgment of 3 May 2011 in case C-375/09 - Tele2Polska, Competition & Regulation Review (2011).