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GRAZIADEI STUDIO LEGALE / OUR PRACTICE
Commercial Law
The firm provides a wide range of advice in the drawing up and the negotiation of all the most common business contracts (national and international) as well as in the resolution of disputes that may arise in connection with the interpretation and performance of such agreements.

The firm also has expertise in matters pertaining to the liability in tort of companies and professionals, consumer contracts and data protection / privacy.
Corporate Law
Thanks to vast experience gained over the years, the firm gives highly qualified advice in relation to all corporate matters, be they special one-off transactions or routine issues.

From company incorporation to mergers, splits and acquisitions in general, be it a transfer of shares or a business itself, the firm follows each stage of the company's life and draws up all of the associated financial agreements, attending to matters like project finance and due diligence as required. In this context the firm has handled the transformation of one of Italy's largest utilities from a public body into a company.             

The firm also provides advice on aspects relating to corporate governance, handling administrative and auditing aspects, including matters concerning boards of directors and shareholders' meetings.
The firm has developed special expertise in the field of the duties and liability of directors and auditors, including from a criminal standpoint. Likewise, the firm has considerable experience in business reorganisation, the drawing up of shareholders' agreements, the creation of joint ventures, trusts, foundations and associations, and the management of public private partnerships.
Banking and capital markets law has always been a mainstay of the firm, because of the peerless academic knowledge of this area by various members of the firm and the legal assistance and advice given over the years to leading national financial institutions and prestigious international companies.  

In this context the assistance offered by the firm ranges from regulatory advice to handling relations with the relevant supervisory authorities, covering also relations between the financial institutions and their own customers. The firm has also gained significant experience in disciplinary proceedings brought by the Italian stock exchange regulator CONSOB and the Bank of Italy against regulated companies and hence also matters such as drawing up and reviewing the internal procedures of banks and intermediaries. Furthermore, the firm has handled various capital markets transactions such as takeover bids, listings and securitisations.

It is obvious that the advisory services also go hand in hand with more routine matters including bank contracts in general, door-to-door sales, investment services, the creation of new financial instruments, the setting up of intermediaries and in general all issues pertaining to traditional and day-to-day banking operations. The firm's services in this area also include representation of clients in litigation before all types of courts and proceedings before the relevant supervisory authorities.
The firm also advises in bankruptcy and insolvency matters in general and has successfully acted in connection with numerous large and complex financial debt restructurings. Legal advice is given with respect to all aspects regarding corporate rescue, including those where a myriad of insolvency proceedings is involved. In this regard the firm has specific expertise in the new procedure for arrangements with creditors and the implementation of the associated plans. Our firm has advised both the companies themselves and the insolvency practitioners acting as receivers, administrators, etc. 
The firm has vast experience in the real estate field. In particular, the negotiation and drawing up of purchase agreements, real estate finance, assessment and resolution of construction, town planning and expropriation issues, the negotiation of agreements with public bodies, public works contracts, the drawing up and negotiation of tenders, the setting up of corporate vehicles to form temporary groupings, joint-ventures and consortia aimed at the implementation of important real estate projects.
The firm provides advice and assistance, including in contentious matters, regarding all aspects of industrial and intellectual property law, with particular reference to patents and utility models, biotechnology protection, trademarks, unfair competition, antitrust law, copyright, advertising, publishing, merchandising and sponsorship.

The firm has wide experience in the contractual aspects of industrial property law (assignments, licensing agreements, copyright contracts, franchising agreements, know-how contracts and technology transfer agreements).            

Specific attention is paid to particularly new issues in information technologies, including copyright over electronic content and the relationship between intellectual property and competition law.
The firm has specialised for years in electronic communications and media law.

The thorough knowledge, skills and experience of some of our professionals, who right from the very beginning have followed the process of the liberalisation of telecommunications, the rise and development of the regulation of the sector, innovation in the broadcasting world and the new media of the last ten years means that the firm is well placed to understand the needs and the legal issues of content, services and broadcasting capability in an environment marked by convergence.             

The firm's deep rooted knowledge of the technological and business aspects guarantees that it will immediately understand the innovation and what rules apply.            

The firm acts for a number of industry players, providing them with advice on national, international and EU law. We draw up national and international contracts regarding the purchase of programmes, television production, advertising and the distribution of television programmes on electronic communications networks.         

The firm has also assisted important Italian telecommunications operators in the negotiation of international contracts and in their participation in the tender for the award of UMTS licenses. In several mergers and acquisitions in this sector, the firm has handled the notifications to both the communications and competition authorities as well as applications for judicial review against the decisions of such bodies to the relevant administrative courts.
The firm practices EU and national antitrust law.

Our lawyers assist clients in the assessment of the antitrust implications of concentrations and other such transactions (mergers, acquisition, transfer of an entire business or business unit, joint venture agreements) and provide legal opinions on compliance of business activities with competition rules.

The firm also assists clients in investigations before the Italian Competition Authority and the European Commission as well as in appeals against the decisions of such bodies before the competent national and EU courts.              
The firm advises important Italian insurers in relation to both contentious and non-contentious matters, with particular reference to the aviation and civil engineering sectors and relationships with brokers. Advising in relation to surety bonds and guarantees is common.
This is one of the firm's key areas with a team dedicated to the constant and in-depth examination of national and international rules and associated contract issues. Clients include a number of leading airlines, which are assisted in all legal matters concerning the carriage of persons and cargo by air and associated insurance matters.   

In the maritime sector the subjects can range from charter parties to relations between ship owners and agents. The firm boasts particular experience in the area of ports, including technical-nautical services, the questions surrounding the use of state property and logistics.

Legal issues relating to rail transport are also an area the firm specialises in (relying on its international network of contacts).          
The firm also specialises in labour law for business, including industrial relations and social security. Litigation is also handled.

The firm regularly deals with individual and collective labour contracts in the context of company reorganisations, especially transfers and spin-offs of business units, mergers, splits and acquisitions, and in this sphere trade union consultations and income support / unemployment benefit are of significant importance.

As far as contracts between companies and their managers/directors are concerned, the firm has often been appointed to devise stock option, stock grant and stock purchase plans.    

The firm regularly advises enterprises in the distribution sector, in particular on matters such as agency agreements, compensation for termination of contract, non-competition agreements for former employees/collaborators, disclosure of trade secrets and poaching of staff, etc.    
The firm also provides advice and assistance in the administrative law field, with special emphasis on disputes (and procedures initially) regarding public tenders, employment contracts in the public sector, construction and town planning, the organisation of local authorities, corporate governance in local services, and the division of power among central government, the regions and municipal authorities.       

The firm's professionals have acquired significant experience as members of commissions awarding public tenders, in advising on the organisation of local authorities from a legislative and administrative standpoint and in the drawing up of large supply agreements involving national state-controlled companies.  

The firm also specialises in environmental law, especially in relation to the energy sector, electrosmog and the clean-up of polluted sites.
The firm offers assistance and advice in the arrangement, implementation and updating of Organisation, Management and Control Models pursuant to Legislative Decree No. 231/2001. Our professionals are members of Supervisory Bodies of leading companies pursuant to the aforementioned regulation.
The firm has developed skills to respond adequately to the complex and novel issues associated with development of life sciences and their impact on individual rights and, more in general, on the legal system. In particular, the firm handles litigation on bioethics (euthanasia, prolonged artificial life support, genetic privacy and discrimination linked to the genetic characteristics of persons, patentability of biotechnologies and medically assisted procreation) and violation of the principle of informed consent as well as medical malpractice lawsuits.
Litigation in administrative and civil matters is a key practice area and encompasses proceedings before all Italian civil and administrative courts, EU courts and independent supervisory/regulatory authorities. The firm boasts solid experience in alternative dispute resolution, especially in national and international arbitration, within which context the professionals of the firm act as legal counsel and arbitrators. A special unit deals with what can best be termed 'serial litigation' i.e. matters like debt recovery which entail a large number of similar cases that can be managed with the help of specially designed procedures and a specific computer system.