Our high-profile domestic and international work has built our market-leading reputation in Italy

Our work is based on a thorough understanding of our clients' immediate business objectives and long-term strategy, their industry sector, their products or services and the commercial reality of the markets in which they operate. Our experience has taught us how to work efficiently on complex projects and ensure that we use our resources – and our clients' time – as effectively as possible. And clients say that our approach and our talented lawyers deliver the right results.

We work closely with our top-tier clients, addressing the challenges and conflicts they face, being innovative in the solutions proposed, advising on front-page deals, and contributing when necessary with a cross-border service.

We make the most of the global firm's infrastructure and resources without in any way relinquishing the distinctive Italian flavour of our offices locally. We encourage our lawyers to develop themselves in their own practices as quickly and effectively as possible, with autonomous client contact and transaction management as twin goals.

The following areas represent the main focus of our work in Milan and Rome.

Global Financial Markets

Our Global Financial Markets practice consistently acts on complex, high-value deals in the Italian financial markets, with experts in English, US and Italian Law. Our clients include financial institutions acting as arrangers and lenders, as well as borrowing entities, which we advise in relation to investment grade/corporate financings, leveraged and bank/bond financings, debt restructurings and project financings; on the capital markets side, our team is constantly involved in many of the most groundbreaking debt and equity transactions in the Italian market over the last few years.

Corporate M&A

We have been advising on some of the most prestigious and complex deals taking place in the Italian market and abroad, which make Clifford Chance the go-to firm for the most complex and challenging M&A domestic and cross-border deals. Our structure allows us to combine the delivery of global transaction management with expert local advice. We work in all sectors of industry, including banks, insurance, industrials, energy, infrastructures, technology, media and telecommunications, luxury and fashion, consumer goods and pharmaceuticals.

Litigation & Dispute Resolution

Our litigation practice is uniquely positioned in the Italian market thanks to its unrivaled combination of civil and criminal experience that no other domestic or international law firm is able to provide. Our team combines the international approach and advantages of our global network with the distinct style of Italian litigation firms, due to our academic credentials and domestic experience. Thanks to its standing among litigation law firms in Italy, our professionals are called upon to represent domestic and international clients in the most visible and complex matters, which include banking, financial and insurance litigation, corporate and commercial litigation, regulatory investigation and financial crimes, arbitration and intellectual property cases.

Tax

Our team is able to offer a combination of the formal rigour, technical expertise and in-depth knowledge of the best domestic tax boutiques, together with the global coverage and depth of resources of a leading international firm. We advise domestic and international clients thanks to a wide range of expertise in many areas of activity, including corporate taxation, extraordinary and restructuring transactions, EU and international tax law, financial markets taxation, real estate and energy taxation, taxation of individuals and large estates, transfer pricing, tax litigation and pre-litigation, VAT and indirect taxation.

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Antitrust

Clifford Chance's Italian Competition Group represents one of the most experienced antitrust teams in Italy within this area and one of the leading firms among the international peers based in Italy. Clifford Chance's major strength consists of the unique combination of:

cutting-edge antitrust traditional advice – our team covers a full range of areas from assistance in anticompetitive agreements and abuse of dominant proceedings, merger control to state aid, FDIs, consumer protection, private enforcement having significantly increased these latter activities over the past years in line with market needs;
a deep local expertise and a full understanding of Italian clients' needs and the market;
a strong knowledge of EU Law and the global environment.

Tax, Pensions and Employees

Clifford Chance Tax Team is a leader in the Italian market, having consolidated its reputation among the main domestic and international players. Today it consists of a core group of professionals with highly specialised legal, tax and accountancy skills. Our TPE practice, also includes an Employment team focused on a wide range of labour, HR and employment issues, providing strategic, practical and timely advice to help clients deliver effective business solutions to their internal stakeholders.

Innovation

Innovation is action. Proven by what we do, not what we say. Putting evolution into evidence, in every facet of our work, every day.

Whether it's the way we work today and how we pave the way for future methods, or the new answers we bring to our clients.

Our capabilities, digital solutions, insights and research speak for themselves. And so do the results.

We use a range of specialised capabilities in the delivery of our legal services including expert project management and continuous improvement, specialist resourcing through our delivery centers, cutting edge legal technology and data science, and a dedicated research and development team who design and build digital solutions with and for our clients.