Focus Teams

The legal reality of the business world is constantly evolving, affected by continuous legislative changes, both national and international, and by the extensive stratification of regulatory acts issued by independent authorities, including supranational ones.
For this reason, there is an ever-increasing risk that economic subjects operating within this complex legal reality, such as corporate groups, banks, multinationals, entrepreneurs and investors in general, will find it difficult to adapt rapidly to these changes and to conform their actions to the reference regulations.
Therefore, there is an increasing need to avail of a legal advice, suitable, on the one hand, to prevent the risk of behaviors in violation of the legislation that would result in economic and/or reputational damage and, on the other hand, to ensure an effective ability to intervene in cases where such violations have occurred.
To this end, the Firm’s professionals offer solid support to the economic operator from the early stages of risk assessment and gap analysis, aimed at the development of procedures, safeguards and controls adhering to the specific reality of the company, in accordance with the principle of proportionality.
The team is composed of Andrea Grosso (Equity Partner) and Federico Rocca (Associate).

In an increasingly complex economic-legal context, still characterized, at national level, by the significant presence of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, the network contract (so called “Contratto di Rete”) is a multi-purpose and flexible legal tool that allows members to increase their innovative capacity and competitiveness by obliging themselves, on the basis of a common program, to co-operate, to exchange information or services or, again, to jointly carry out activities falling within the scope of their business.
The decisional autonomy recognized to the contracting parties in the definition of the contents of the contract and of the common program is wide. The legal issues that the phenomenon of business networks requires to be resolved are many and constantly evolving.
In this context, the firm provides clients with a dedicated working group that has already established a large number of business networks both in civil and administrative law.
The team, composed of Fabrizio Tarocco (Equity Partner) and Anna Casavecchia (Associate), offers a wide and transversal range of consulting and legal assistance services, if necessary also through the involvement of highly experienced professionals from other Focus Teams.

The collaborative economy (also known as sharing economy) is gaining more and more space worldwide, questioning consolidated models of manifacturing and use of goods.
Crowdfunding represents one of the types in which the collaborative and participatory spirit is strengthening also in Italy with greater intensity: crowdfunding provide finance for projects and ideas based on the great potential of the network between individuals.
The term crowdfunding indicates the process whereby several people (“crowd”) contribute sums of money (funding), even of modest amounts, to finance entrepreneurial projects or initiatives of various kinds using internet sites (“platforms” or “portals”) both free of charge and receiving a “reward” in exchange.
The entry into force on November 10, 2021 of the new Regulation (EU) 2020/1503 relating to European providers of crowdfunding services is a cue for operators, who belong to the economic, financial and legal worlds, each with their own specific skills, to examine in depth the development issues and the application areas that this tool – which has now become a type of financing alternative to loans provided by banks or other financial intermediaries – can offer to the interested parties in its various forms.
The Regulation – which foresees a transitional period of one year for platforms that already provide crowdfunding services – aims to standardise the regulation in order to encourage the cross-border provision of crowdfunding services by regolating both authorization regime applicable to the companies that provide them and rules of conduct, also by intorducing of a common framework for all crowdfunding platform managers.
The Regulation therefore represents an innovative choice with respect to the national regulatory framework – as per CONSOB Regulation adopted with resolution no. 18592 of June 26, 2013 updated with the amendments made by resolution no. 21259 of February 6, 2020 – and it will affect the operating business models of Italian platforms, also opening up the market to European operators.
In this scenario, which is constantly evolving, the many possibilities of using crowdfunding service is growing attentions; therefore the Firm provides Clients with a working group that, with respect to specific needs, is dedicated to the in-depth study of the many issues related to the various types of crowdfunding and their best suited form.
The team is composed of lawyers Andrea Bernardini (Equity Partner) and Maria Cristina Ottavis (Senior Lawyer), who offer legal advice and assistance on these specific issues.

In recent years, the world of art and collecting have undergone a radical transformation: on the one hand, the process of digitalization of the activities of these sectors, significantly accelerated by the current pandemic; on the other hand, the development of new business sectors in response to the increasingly varied interests of the public. Thus, from a world whose main protagonists were a few renowned auction houses, museums , art dealers and experienced collectors, we have moved on to a world dwelled by new players: from the numerous more recently established auction houses, to the platforms that allow old and new operators to carry out their activities on an international level, looking at the global market, right down to the final users, often common people moved by their interest in art and collecting, who, for the first time, with a simple “click”, can access an impressive amount of information and take advantage of purchasing opportunities that were unthinkable even in the recent past.
This sudden expansion of the market imposes on all those involved to face old and new needs for protection and on legal professionals to give adequate answers to old and new questions. Think, for example, of the complex relationship which, on a contractual ground, binds the buyer, the auction house and the successful bidder and at the numerous practical issues whose solution depends on it, at the protection of the rights of artists whose works are sold in auction, at the interferences to the circulation of works of art deriving from the public discipline of protection of cultural assets. But think also at the problems of ensuring compliance with the Community legislation on consumer protection, at the necessity to regulate the time of participation in online auctions or at the necessity to tackle the transnational profiles that inevitably characterize many sales taking place on the Internet. Eventually, consider the difficulties deriving from the need to outline a sale discipline valid for categories of goods heterogeneous and sometimes new to the market, which might adequately respond to the peculiarities of each business area (from sports memorabilia to vintage cars, passing through fine wines and spirits, to reach real estate and mirabilia et naturalia). These and other issues imply the necessity for market players to rely on a proper support in the organization of their activity and of an effective assistance in the management of the claims that often arise among the involved parties.
In order to respond to this demand for counselling, the firm offers its competence, resulting from years of experience in judicial and contractual assistance provided to some primary national auction houses and from the personal interest of its partners and associates in collecting and art in general, being aware that, in addition to legal competence, nowadays lawyers must be able to understand the economic needs of their clients and must cope with them using the same language. Members of the team are Fabrizio Tarocco (Equity partner), and Enrico Debernardi (Associate, Ph.D. in Domestic and International Arbitration).

One of the most important and innovative objectives for the future of the European Union is to become the first “continent” with zero climate impact by 2050, through the implementation of various initiatives and proposals included in the so-called “European Green Deal”.
During the United Nations Conference on Climate Change 2021 (“COP26”), held in Glasgow, emphasis was given to the newly formed Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet (“GEAPP”), an entity that aims to reach one billion people with clean and renewable energy by 2030, so as to prevent and avoid 4 billion CO2 emissions and the creation of 150 million jobs in sustainable activities.
Italy, in implementation of the National Energy Strategy (“SEN”), has set itself – inter alia – the goal of achieving by 2030 an electricity system in which the renewable energies generated will cover a share of 55% of total production.
On such basis, it is clear that renewable energy sources (and their implementation) represent a sector with which economic operators will necessarily have to deal, whether they are strong players in the energy sector or companies and individuals interested in the benefits arising from the strong public drive for exponential growth in the use of clean energy.
In this context, characterized by increasing attention and continuous innovation, the Firm provides Clients with a dedicated team capable of responding to the many opportunities related to renewable energy.
The team, composed of Federico Canazza (Equity Partner) and Umberto Averna (Associate), offers a wide range of consulting and legal assistance services, if necessary, also through the involvement of highly experienced professionals from other Focus Teams.
Within the complex panorama of renewable energies, the Firm also offers sector-specific assistance and advice on R.E.C. – Renewable Energy Communities, to which a specific Focus Team is dedicated.

Artificial intelligence (AI) represents a central factor in the process of digital transformation of society and the economy. The innovative scope of this technology affects the majority of productive sectors including, but not limited to, manufacturing, energy, healthcare, robotics, mobility, aerospace and food.
The economic operators involved in developing this technology, or even in integrating it within their own production processes, must necessarily face the new legal problems posed by the emergence of AI (with relevant implications in terms of insurance law, intellectual and industrial property law, competition law, privacy law and personal rights, civil liability and product liability, ownership structures of the so-called big data) as well as with a context of rapid proliferation of sectorial regulations.
In this evolving scenario, the Law Firm provides Clients with a dedicated team capable of responding to the multiple and growing needs related to AI.
The team, composed by Prof. Marco Ricolfi (Equity Partner; Professor of Commercial Law at the Department of Law of the University of Turin) and Alessio Chiabotto (Partner; member of the Artificial Intelligence Commission at the Council of the Bar of Turin), offers a wide and transversal range of consulting and legal assistance services, if necessary also through the involvement of highly experienced professionals from other Focus Teams.

The European Commission’s “New Deal for Consumers” initiative built on the existing Consumer Policy framework, taking a step forward to strengthen the adoption of EU consumer law to ensure both citizens and companies a high level of protection and certainty in a rapidly changing market.
Four Directives are included within this project: the Omnibus Directive (2019/2161/EU), with the aim of modernizing the consumer law framework through amendments to existing Directives, the Directive on Class Actions (9223/20/EU), aimed at updating the rules on representative actions to protect the collective interests of consumers, as well as the Directives on digital content (2019/770/EU) and on the sale of goods (2019/771/EU).
In the Italian context, as of January 01, 2022, the implementing decrees (Legislative Decrees 170 and 173 of 2021) of the last two Directives, containing specific rules on contracts for the provision of digital content and services and amendments to the already existing rules on the sale of goods, became effective; with regard to the Omnibus Directive, on the other hand, Italy is now implementing the directive into national law.
In order to face the challenges of the new evolving market, the firm provides Clients with a dedicated working group able to cope with the new needs, both of consumers to see their rights fully protected, and of companies, which will have to adapt their business practices to the European Directives in a new perspective of modernization and digital development.
The team is composed by Riccardo Bacci (Equity Partner) and Chiara Gualerni (Associate), who offer specific advice and legal assistance on these specific issues.

Private enforcement of antitrust law, i.e. litigation concerning damages claimed by private individuals, both companies and consumers, due to the violation by other companies of the rules protecting competition and the market (in particular, agreements and abuse of dominant position) is a rapidly growing phenomenon.
This type of litigation is characterized by high technical complexity and by the intersection of strictly legal and economic issues.
The focus team composed by Federico Benincasa (Partner) and Fabrizio Abrate (Associate) has acquired significant experience in this field and collaborates with leading economists, thus being able to offer qualified assistance to all parties involved.

Blockchain technology is employed more and more widely and is now extended to contracts, as it is the basis of smart contracts, containers of contractual clauses encoded in computer language that make possible the self-execution of the terms programmed by the Parties on occurrence of certain conditions according to the “if … / then …” function.
The use of smart contracts provides immediate advantages when it comes to certainty, immutability and transparency of legal relationships and it is suitable for the purposes of insurance, logistics and financial industries, among others.
In this respect, the Firm provides Clients with a dedicated working group.
The Team, composed by Franco Galiano (Equity Partner) and Ivano Longo (Associate), both experts of insurance law practise, offers a wide and cross range of consulting and legal assistance services, if needed also engaging highly experienced professionals from other Focus Teams.

The world of innovative Start-Ups and SMEs represents a constantly evolving scenario, which requires strategic assistance, as well as legal expertise on the regulatory peculiarities of the sector.
Our consulting activity covers the entire life of the new company, from the initial assessment of the requirements for the access to the regime of innovative Start-Up (or innovative SME), to the design of the capital raising process – with particular attention to the applicable tax incentives – up to the development phase of the business (including the possible transformation from Start-Up to innovative SME).
In particular, the Firm offers qualified assistance on the definition of the corporate structure and the relationships between operating and investment partners, taking advantage of the flexibility of the regime of innovative Start-Ups with respect to ordinary corporate law, with a specific focus on the regulation of corporate governance and remuneration plans for managers.
The team, composed by Federico Restano (Equity Partner), Federico Benincasa (Partner) and Elena Canale (Associate), offers a wide and transversal range of consulting and legal services, if necessary also through the involvement of highly experienced professionals from other Focus Teams.

The circulation of legal models has determined, also within the continental legal systems, a process of transposition and progressive diffusion of provisions capable of determining situations of patrimonial destination, with consequent separation or segregation of assets.
Among the most flexible and dynamic legal institutions, capable of responding to the needs of patrimonial guarantee and separation that emerged in the contractual practice, there is the trust, which, with its ability to segregate immovable or movable assets that are placed under the care and management of a subject (trustee) free to administer and dispose of them without losing the legal constraint, in order to prosecute a purpose worthy of protection and/or for the satisfaction of one or more determined beneficiaries, found wide diffusion in the Italian legal system, also due to the ratification of the 1985 Hague Convention.
The trust is effectively used as a legal tool for succession planning and protection of families and of de facto unions as well as of weaker subjects, in commercial relationships, in bankruptcy procedures and business restructuring operations.
The Firm provides a dedicated working group, able to support Clients regarding the many forms that the institution of trust is able to take in relation to the aimed purposes and the consequences that such an instrument is able to produce in terms of practical application.
The team, composed by Matteo Rossomando (Equity Partner) and Serena Palma (Associate; PhD in Private Law), offers a wide and transversal range of consulting services and legal assistance, with the possibility to involve professionals with considerable experience in such field who work together with the Firm.