Areas of Practice

I focus my practice in the following areas of law:

Estate Planning and Succession Matters Involving Assets Located in Italy:
I provide full assistance to clients who have inherited property located in Italy as well as assistance in the drafting and execution of international wills and any other valid legal instruments (such as donations) that dispose of property located in Italy. When assessing a client’s case, my perspective always takes into consideration any arising issues that are typical of international settings (and properly addressed by the applicable International Private Law), such as the applicability of any dispositions on forced heirship typical of the Italian civil law system.

Italian and International Real Estate:
I assist my clients with the purchase, sale or lease of real estate property located in Italy or the U.S., from the onset stage consisting in hiring a real estate agent, followed by the negotiation phase (including securing financing from a financial institution, if needed), drafting of the preliminary contract (typical of the Italian law system), and finally the deed of sale (which in Italy always occurs before an Italian Notary). Also included in this area of practice is consulting in Italian Property Law and judicial representation before Italian courts on issues such as adverse possession, easement, division of inherited community property, research of any real estate properties or registered assets throughout Italy.

Italian and International Family Law:
I provide assistance with the registration in the Italian Civil Registry of marriages, births, divorces celebrated anywhere in the U.S. Also included in this area of practice is a highly qualified consultation service, provided to law firms and individuals alike, on private international law matters that inevitably arise in a multinational family (reference is hereby made, for example, to families whose members have different citizenships, reside abroad and/or own assets abroad, or to spouses whose marital life takes place outside their country of origin.) I answer questions like “what judge of which country will decide this particular issues?”, “which law applies?”, and “what are the consequences for a person’s case in the event that Italian law applies?”. These are very relevant questions when assessing substantial matters such as alimony, division of assets (main residence included), custody, visiting rights, family name change, and so on, not no mention the procedural differences between the civil law system and the common law system. A considerable part of my practice is also dedicated to providing consultation and assistance with the drafting of private agreements among spouses concerning real estate property located in Italy or affecting an Italian spouse, to guarantee that they not only comply with the applicable Italian laws and regulations, as interpreted by the courts, but that they are also enforceable.

Italian Immigration Law:
I assist clients with all their Italian immigration needs concerning Italy as well as the entry into the “Shengen Area”, which is the area comprising the entire territories of 26 European countries where free movement of persons is guaranteed under the 1985 Shengen Treaty.

There are different types of visas depending on your nationality, residence, length of stay and reason for your visit. All these different visas may be divided up in three major categories:

a. Transit Visa:
These are visas issued for airport transit only; citizens of certain countries are required to obtain them before traveling though any country within the Shengen Area.

b. Short-stay visas (for visits up to 90 days):
They can be granted for the entire Shengen territory (“USVs”, i.e. Uniform Shengen Visas, or “Type C” visas) or for a specific territory (“LTVs”, i.e. Limited Territorial Validity visas), and for the following reasons:

• Business.
• Medical treatment.
• Sporting events.
• By invitation.
• Self-employment.
• Employees (dependent employment).
• Missions.
• Religious purposes/grounds.
• Study.
• Transport.
• Tourism.

b. Long-stay visas (for visits of more than 90 days)[NB: make it bold also on the web site]:
These are also known as “National D” visas that are issued by the single country where you are entitled to stay for the period specified in the visa itself. They can only be issued for:

• Adoption.
• Medical treatment.
• Diplomatic work.
• Accompanying family members, and particularly:
  • Mission Visa for accompanying military personnel at any U.S. Military Force bases located in Italy.
  • Mission Visa for a minor accompanying military personnel posted at any U.S. Military Force bases located in Italy.
• Self-employment.
• Employees (dependent employment).
• Religious ground.
• Re-entry.
• Elective residence (a type of visa of particular interest for those persons of Italian descent who unfortunately do not meet the requirement set out by the Italian laws to obtain the recognition of Italian citizenship iure sanguinis/by blood, and thus intend to mature the years of residence needed to obtain the Italian citizenship under the residency requirements).
• Family reunification (a type of visa of particular interest for those who, immediately after the recognition of their Italian citizenship iure sanguinis/by blood, want or need to move to Italy or anywhere else in the E.U. along with their spouse and family).
• Study (National Study Visa; Shengen Study Visa; Study Visa for learning institutions).

International Human Rights Law:
I represent clients before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, for the violations of human rights protected by the European Convention on Human Rights signed in Rome, Italy, on November 4, 1950. The typical issues at stake concern the right to a private and family life (which encompasses a person’s citizenship rights), the right to enjoy property and the peaceful enjoyment of a persons’ possession, the freedom of expression, and the right to a fair trial.

International Litigation Support:
I assist U.S. law firms as well as Italian clients in the fast-paced development of litigations taking place in the U.S. by providing highly qualified legal translations and by solving communication difficulties that inevitably arise between the parties due to the language barriers, particularly when it comes to handling highly technical legal matters and pertaining documents. Also included in my services is the assistance with the service of process in Italy pursuant to the provisions of the Hague Convention of November 15, 1965 on the Service Abroad of the Judicial and Extra-judicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters.

I also render legal opinions on specific matters covered by International Private Law.