Litigation Lawyers in Italy | Litigation and Disputes
Dimarco & Partners International Law Firm

Our Lawyers in Italy are specialized in litigation, disputes and arbitrations. We can represent the Client in Italy in front of all the italian courts in every states of proceedings (first instance, appeal and in front of the Supreme Court). Our Law Firm has a litigation department, made of attorneys with more of 20 years of experience in disputes.
Our Law Firm policy is to apppoint an attorney in charge of the case and his substitute, another professional with experience that is able to replace the first Lawyer in case of his absence and ensure the same quality of the services. This policy guarantee the Client to have always a personal referral for his case. The most important decisions, of course, are taken jointly by the two professionals. Our Lawyers provide a professional and qualified service that allows the customer to be a competitive player in the market. We believe that the judicial phase is very delicate and that the Lawyers should act methodically in litigation matters. Our modus operandi is the following one:

• Analysis of the financial situation of the italian debtor through investigative agencies, if required by the customer;

• The italian lawyers ask to the Client all the relevant documentation to be analyzed.

• After a preliminary analysis, our italian Lawyers prepare a written opinion: this phase is necessary to explain to the customer which are the favourable points of the case and which are the less favourable, so they can recommend a transaction or alternatively the beginning of the litigation.

• Before starting the action, our Litigation Lawyers drafts the deed for the proceeding that will be sent to the Client for his approval, requesting, if necessary, an integration of documents.
• Our Attorneys start the material activities at the court.

 Below it is possible to find a description of the first instance of the italian court proceeding:
                                                                                                        CIVIL ORDINARY COURT TRIAL:

1. the action starts with an "atto di citazione": it is the writ of summon. The attorneys describe all the facts, introduce all the documents and elements of the case. In the writ of summon are set the conclusions that the judge will take in consideration in his decision.
2. After the introduction phase there is a court hearing to allow the court to verify the accuracy of the notifications. In this stage the Judge will assign the terms for the investigation activities.
3. The investigation activities entail the drafting of 3 pleadings: memoria 183 c.6 n.1, memoria 183 c.6 n.2 and memoria 183 c.6 n.3. The first one is to set definitively the conclusions, the second one is to produce all the evidences and the third one is to reply to the second pleading of the defendant party.
4. After the analysis of the evidences, the judge sets a court hearing to discuss them and to decide which evidence may be accepted in the process. In cases concerning specific and technical litigations, the judge is obliged to appoint an expert selected from the list of the court (CTU) that will evaluate the situation in his place (ex. for financial litigation an accountant, or for medical malpractice a doctor or a coroner). In this situation also the Client has a strong recommendation to appoint his own expert (CTP) to defend his rights. He will be coordinated by the lawyer.
5. After the investigation activities the lawyers will draft a deed called "precisazione delle conclusioni" that will be filed during the court hearing set for this fulfillment. The conclusions can be precised in this deed, considering the results of the evidences in the process.
6.  The last two deeds before the sentence are "conclusionale" and "replica alla conclusionale". In these pleadings the attorneys bring to the court all the elements of right - including the previous case laws - concerning the case.
7. The judge will draft the judgement that a party could appeal in front of the Appeal Court of the competent district (Corte d'Appello) and if front of the Supreme Court (Corte di Cassazione).

We provide the litigation services in the following subjects in Italy, in the whole italian territory:

• Commercial law litigation 
• Civil litigation
• Enforcement of foreign rulings
• Debt collection
• Wrongful termination of contracts
• Arbitrations
• Financial litigation
• Product Liability litigation
• Bankruptcy procedures
• Insurance litigation
• Apellate litigation
• Mediation
• Medical malpractice in Italy
• Employment Law
• Labour Law
• Shareholders rights
• Agency and distributorships
• Real estate litigation
• Intellectual property litigation
• Competition Law

We look forward to cooperate with you.

FAQ

1. I want to sue in front of an Italian court an individual or a corporate entity: do I need to hire a litigation lawyer in Italy?
In general you always need an Italian Lawyer to provide judicial activities if the value of the case overcomes the amount of euro 1.100,00. It is important that the lawyer is duly registered at one of the Italian bar associations.
2. An Italian subject sued me in Italy. Shall I provide written defenses or evidences to the court personally or through a lawyer which is not registered as a lawyer in Italy?
Very often foreign subjects make the mistake of providing defenses to the Court via post office alone or with a foreign lawyer and without hiring a lawyer in Italy. The defenses or the evidences, without an Italian lawyer acting on your behalf, would be ineffective and invalid. You always need to hire an Italian lawyer which have the habilitation in Italy. All our Litigation Lawyers  may represent you in any court trial and in any jurisdiction (civil, criminal and administrative).
3. If I am sued in Italy, do I have a term to provide written defenses?
Depending on the kind of lawsuit you receive you must respect a deadline or you may lose your rights or part of your rights. The most common cases are the order of payment received (they become final and binding within 50 days from their receipt if you are an EU citizen or corporate entity or 60 days if you are located outside EU). In case the Italian plaintiff is starting an ordinary judicial action, you must pay attention to the court hearing indicated in the notified writ of summon. It is possible that some other special procedures have different terms of constitution.
4. How much does a court trial in Italy last?
The court trial in Italy is very technical and our Litigation Lawyers on average need to write 7 judicial pleadings and to attend 4-5 court hearings. On average the first instance may last between 2 and 4 years, depending on the court.
5. I am a foreign company and I was sued by an Italian company. I believe that there is a lack of Italian jurisdiction, what shall I do?
In any case you shall partecipate to the court trial and in the due terms bring to the court the written defense, respecting the deadlines. In this way our Lawyers will ask the court to evaluate the lack of jurisdiction. If you do not join the court trial the court will decide also if there is a lack of jurisdiction and you will not be able to file this objection anymore.
6. Do I have right to the reimbursement of the legal fees I paid in case I am the winning party?
Yes, normally the court entitles the winning party to receive the reimbursement of the legal fees paid to the attorneys.
7. Do you work on the basis of the principle "no cure no pay" and so, on the basis of a success fee?
No, the success fee as a method of remuneration is considered unlawful in Italy and a lawyer that works charging exclusively a success fee may be suspended for 6 months by the bar association.
8. Are you entitled to represent a foreign Client in front of all the Italian Court?
Yes we may represent the Client in any Italian city. Now the process is telematic, that means that all the deeds are delivered to the Court with a telematic software, so there is no difference if the court trial for example is in Milan or Rome, Florence, Palermo or any other Italian city.

---