Practice Areas
The firm’s work focuses on the areas of law of interest to businesses and above all:
- commercial and contract law
- business, company, joint venture, consortium
- mergers and acquisitions
- industrial (trademarks and patents) and intellectual property and antitrust law
- bankruptcy law and business distress
- European Union law.
The firm has acquired considerable experience in industry, trade and finance, practicing in the areas of risk management, and supply chain protection, industrial collaboration and organization of production (construction and service contracting, engineering, industrial subcontracting, licensing, technology transfer, OEM), credit protection and management of business distress situations, investment and divestment as well as mergers and acquisitions (M&A), all with particular reference to the following sectors: automotive, mechanical, electromechanical and automatic machines, construction of industrial plants, service contracting and outsourcing, chemical-physical, pharmaceutical, electromedical, electronic, ceramics, and other technical materials, luxury, clothing, footwear, sporting goods, web, e-commerce, energy, agri/viti-culture and wine-producing.
In its practice, the firm is frequently involved in the drafting of international and domestic contracts and in the management of issues arising from business distress situations and bankruptcies, assisting its clients in the identification of the tools best suited to their specific needs through consulting (designing and carrying out of contractual and corporate transactions) and out of court (including in negotiations) and in judicial proceedings and arbitrations where necessary.
Although these services are provided by the firm with a view to avoiding future litigation to the extent possible, the firm advises its clients on the various methods of dispute resolution available as alternatives to litigation, such as mediation (as well as med-arb and arb-med), other forms of ADR and arbitration, and the relative advantages and disadvantages of each such option.
Where disputes do arise, the firm offers its clients strategic advice regarding how best to prepare for the judicial or arbitration proceeding (whether Italian, foreign or international) and assists the client throughout the proceeding, providing the client with information necessary or useful to decision-making.
Where assistance is required in jurisdictions other than Italy, whether in connection with a litigation or arbitration matter in a foreign country, the incorporation of a foreign subsidiary or otherwise, the firm is equipped to provide the assistance necessary to help the client select qualified counsel in the foreign jurisdiction, instruct the foreign counsel in the interest of the client and, if the client so desires, to serve as liaison between client and foreign counsel, illustrating the aspects of the foreign legal system which are most relevant for the management of the dispute or the transaction, and so as to enable the client to cooperate best with foreign counsel; in that case, the firm is able to work closely with foreign counsel in connection with both the making of strategic choices and the drafting of pleadings.
In addition to serving companies, the firm provides legal representation and support, both in and out of court, to non-profit entities active in Italy, including the Italian branches of foreign universities. The firm's services to these entities include data protection, real estate, administrative compliance and insurance matters, as well as business and student affairs issues. The firm also assists counsel at the home campus abroad in coordinating and supervising the services provided in Italy by professionals specialized in areas other than those in which the firm ordinarily practices, such as labor and employment law, immigration, criminal law and tax law.
The firm also has significant experience in the area of European Union law in which it has been involved in numerous major cases before the Court of First Instance and the European Court of Justice. Through its Brussels office, the firm has repeatedly represented the Commission of the European Communities in legal proceedings before the European Court of Justice and the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg.
