António da Costa Basto

Born in Cerva, Ribeira de Pena, on 21 March 1949

Qualifications

• Law Degree from the Lisbon Faculty of Law, in 1973.

Professional Background

• Practised law continuously since 1975, with particular emphasis on Civil Law (civil liability and insurance; traffic accidents and accidents in general; medical negligence; contracts) and also Commercial Law.
• From 1976 to 1986 – Staff member at the insurance company GESA (currently called Inter Partner Assistance), as the Legal Department Director, as a lawyer, in addition to having been the substitute General Attorney for some years.
• Commentator for Portugal on the topic “Legal Protection Insurance” at the Congress of IAYL of 1984, in Bordeaux, France.
• From 1992 to 2004 – Partner in the firm Lopes Dias, Costa Basto, Veríssimo, Fernandes e Associados.
• Member of IAYL – International Association of Young Lawyers.
• Consultant for ASEP – Portuguese Association of Private Insurance Companies until it joined APS – Portuguese Insurance Companies Association.
• Member of the General Council of the Bar Association, in the three-year period presided by António Pires de Lima (1999-2001) and in the three-year period presided by José Miguel Júdice (2002-2004).
• Organiser of the Winter Conference of People (Lisbon – November 2001) covering the topic “Medical Negligence.”
• Speaker at the 1st Conference of Families that are Victims of Cerebral Paralysis (March 2003).
• Speaker at a colloquium for health journalists about medical negligence (May 2003).
• Organiser, in representation of the Bar Association, of the 1st Congress on “Medical Error, Negligence and Respective Liabilities,” organised jointly by the Bar Association and the Medical Association (December 2003)
• Speaker at the 1st Spanish – Portuguese Congress on Insurance Law held in Madrid in November 2004, about “Evaluating and Repairing Bodily Injury in the Portuguese System: current situation; proposals for the future.”
• In 2005 – Founding partner of the firm Costa Basto, Jorge Fernandes e Associados, which in 2006 changed its name to the current BFV – Costa Basto, Jorge Fernandes, Veríssimo e Associados – Sociedade de Advogados, RL.
• Delegate at various congresses and seminars on legal topics in general and on topics linked more specifically to insurance, traffic accidents and medical liability.
• Prepared clauses for insurance policies for Legal Protection and Assistance Insurance.
• Course Instructor for insurance professionals and jurist about Legal Protection insurance.

Professional Associations

• Member of the Bar Association since 1975
• Member of APADAC – Portuguese Association of Personal Injury Evaluation.
• Member of the Executive Committee of PEOPIL – Pan European Organization of Personal Injury Lawyers, with its head office in the United Kingdom.
• Member of the Executive Committee of SPAIDA – Portuguese Section of International Insurance Law Association.

Articles and works published

• Author for Portugal of the national report included in the book “Personal Injury Compensation in Europe,” a comparative law study covering 18 jurisdictions (Kluwer – 2003).
• Author for Portugal of the national report included in the book “Personal Injury Compensation in Europe: Fatal Accidents and Secondary Victims,” a comparative law study covering 18 jurisdictions (xpl law / xpl publishing – 2005).

Main Practice Areas

• Civil and Commercial Law, particularly Insurance Law and Contracts Law (contracts; civil liability: traffic accidents and medical negligence)

Languages

• Portuguese (native language)
• Spanish
• French
• English