Universidade Católica Portuguesa – better known in Portugal as ‘Católica’ or ‘UCP’ – was founded in 1967 and, over the past five decades, it has developed a globally-minded model of teaching and research across its different schools. Católica Global School of Law was established in 2009 and it has since become the epicenter of Católica's growing focus on transnational legal education. Based in Lisbon – a geographical and strategic bridge between Europe and the United States –, Católica Global School of Law was created with the fundamental purpose of preparing future generations of lawyers to practise in the context of multiple jurisdictions and diverse legal sources. 

Since its foundation, Católica Global School of Law has been successful in achieving a number of goals, rapidly becoming a crucial center of legal teaching and research in Continental Europe. It has developed an extensive network of partnerships with business organizations and academic institutions worldwide, being a founding member of the Law Schools Global League and having also recently joined the European Law School Network.

Every year, Católica Global School of Law attracts a remarkable groups of scholars, both resident and visiting, and cohorts of graduate students from more than 50 different nationalities, both coming from prestigious law schools from all over the world. It has launched four state of the art programmes: the LL.M. Law in a European and Global Context, the LL.M. International Business Law, the LL.M. Law in a Digital Economy, and the Global Ph.D. in Law. The quality of these programmes was consistently recognized by the Financial Times for many years, which has selected Católica Global School of Law as one of the most innovative law schools in the world, and by Eduniversal, which has ranked Católica’s LL.M. programmes among the best in Western Europe and the world.

Among its alumni, Católica Global School of Law boasts lawyers in top firms around the world, officers at European institutions and international organizations, and academic leaders both in Europe and in the US.