Much of what we do never reaches a courtroom. A letter sent in time, a contract read before signature, or a clear answer on whether a claim is worth bringing often settles a matter that litigation would have made longer and more expensive.
How it begins
With a telephone conversation, at no charge. Its purpose is narrow and practical: to establish whether you have a case at all, and — more urgently — whether any deadline is already running against you. Italian law attaches short and unforgiving time limits to many ordinary situations: sixty days to challenge an administrative fine, thirty to oppose a payment order, ten to withdraw from certain contracts. A matter that looks unhurried is often not.
If there is nothing to be done, we say so on the telephone. It costs you nothing and saves you more.
Written advice
Where the matter is worth pursuing, the next step is a written opinion in English. It sets out what has happened in legal terms, what can be obtained, what it is likely to cost and how long it may take, and what you should do — or avoid doing — immediately.
It is written to be used: if you need to show it to an insurer, an employer, a landlord or your own advisers at home, it is drafted so that they can follow it without an Italian lawyer beside them.
Fees
Fees for advice and for any instruction that follows are agreed in writing before the work starts, as Italian professional rules require. You will know the figure, and what it covers, before committing to anything.
Where a case goes to court, Italian fee scales set the reference, and we explain at the outset how costs may fall if the case is won and what the risk is if it is lost — including the rule, unfamiliar to many foreign clients, that the losing party is ordinarily ordered to pay the winner's legal costs.
Mediation and settlement
For several kinds of dispute — property, condominium, banking, insurance, medical liability — Italian law makes an attempt at mediation compulsory before a claim can be brought. It is not a formality to be endured: handled properly it is often where the matter actually ends. One of us is separately qualified in mediation technique.