Arbitration and litigation

The recent developments of the world economy and of the Italian economy have intensified the disputes between banks and investors, and between commercial businesses. The regulatory and tax infringement procedures launched by States and local bodies against banks, financial institutions and large enterprises ‒ apparently also because of the increasing  difficulties faced by Italian institutions ‒ have also increased significantly.

Clients are therefore more and more frequently instructing our Firm to handle complex disputes generated by these socio-economic developments.

Especially when handling disputes pending before judges seated in locations different from the traditional financial centres, Zunarelli – Studio Legale Associato places a lawyer belonging to the Firm and permanently operating in the forum where the dispute is pending besides the internal staff specialized in the sectors of substantive law relevant to the dispute.

Every office of the Firm has in fact at least one professional dedicated to dispute resolution, so that cases can be handled, according to their relevance and to the practice areas involved, either by organizing a local team or by creating a team with lawyers belonging to different offices of the Firm.

The success of this approach has favoured the inclusion of our Firm among the ranked firms in the Chambers Europe Guide 2017 in the practice area of Dispute Resolution – Italy.

Recent representative matters include:

• representing a company in proceedings before the Corte Costituzionale concerning the declaration of unconstitutionality of art. 29 of Legislative Decree 185/2008, converted into Law 2/2009, for breach of the right to tax credit accrued pursuant to the 2007 Budget Law and for the connected infringement of some constitutionally guaranteed rights;
• representing an Italian company operating in the fashion sector in an arbitration pending before the Paris ICC International Court of Arbitration, aimed at obtaining economic compensation from a Chinese company for the losses suffered due to the breach of the agreement for the establishment of an Equity Joint Venture in China;
• representing a tax warehouse in a dispute against a client concerning the recovery of the excise duties on the fuel oil released for consumption by the latter
• representing the heir of a passenger who died in an accident occurred to a light aircraft with respect to the reciprocal compensation claims made by and against the other passenger who suffered severe injuries due to the accident;
• successfully representing the contract awarding body of a public procurement in first degree proceedings. On behalf of the Client we obtained the stay of the provisional enforceability of an order for payment concerning the price of the contract, the revocation of the order, and the dismissal of the contractor’s application. Now representing the Client in the appeal proceedings;
• successfully acting for a marina concessionaire and for the Port Authority of the port where the marina is located in the dispute against Agenzia del Territorio (Italian Revenue Agency, former Land Registry Office), obtaining the annulment of the new cadastral classifications. Now representing the Clients in the appeal proceedings before the Commissione Tributaria Regionale (Tax Court of Appeal);
• representing the owners of a building which was severely damaged by the 2009 Emilia Romagna earthquake in the proceedings before the TAR (Administrative Court) of the same region against the measure which had denied them reconstruction funds;
• representing an Italian Province in a dispute brought against it by some transport companies before the TAR (Administrative Court) of the region. The companies sought to obtain compensation payments for the performance of public transport services under Regulation EC no. 1191/69