COUNSEL
Contract Drafting and Negotiation
Being experienced litigators with a cross-disciplinary track record, D|R Arbitration & Litigation lawyers assist their clients in drafting or overviewing commercial contracts and M&A agreements with the objective of minimizing the risk of future disputes and protecting them from the consequences of a potential litigation.
Choosing carefully between state litigation and arbitration while drafting a commercial contract is a vital, but often neglected, task. Giving the right importance to forum selection and arbitration clauses at an early stage translates into time and cost efficiency once a dispute arises.
D|R Arbitration & Litigation assists its clients in assessing the most efficient solution between litigation and arbitration as well as in negotiating and drafting forum selection or arbitration clauses that are properly and effectively drafted.
An accurate evaluation must be carried out when selecting the law governing an international commercial contract. In case a dispute arises, a poorly or hastily drafted choice of law clause might result in time-consuming and expensive consultation with lawyers of the country of the chosen applicable law.
D|R Arbitration & Litigation vast experience in commercial transactions and its deep understanding of comparative law help clients to carefully draft the choice of law clause thus avoiding any unpleasant surprise arising out of the “hidden” rules of the applicable law.
Settle or Litigate?
It is a well-known fact that arbitration proceedings or court litigations are sometimes initiated even if, from a business perspective, it would be more efficient to resort to an amicable solution.
The appropriate decision between settling or litigating a dispute requires a comprehensive case assessment that includes not only a complete fact and legal analysis but also business and strategic considerations.
D|R Arbitration & Litigation assists clients in appraising the probabilities of a case and the related legal and business risks, directing the client toward the best strategy.
Settlement Negotiation
D|R Arbitration & Litigation main goal is to help clients avoid needless conflicts and to settle whenever suitable and efficient. Being experienced negotiators, our lawyers provide an objective appraisal of the merits of the dispute in order to establish from the outset the most optimistic result that has a realistic chance to be achieved.
Once the issues and the goals are clearly identified, our team assists clients in achieving the best resolution of the dispute.
Pre Arbitration and Litigation Injunctions
In an increasingly globalized economy in which evidence and assets can be easily hidden or transferred across borders, interim or conservatory relief is a significant tool for an effective dispute resolution.
When it is necessary to protect a party’s right before the commencement of an arbitration or a court proceeding, resorting to an urgent interim relief becomes fundamental.
D|R Arbitration & Litigation assists clients in obtaining temporary relief (among others: freezing orders or injunctive relief), both before domestic courts as well as through emergency arbitration, in those circumstances where the time required for rendering an award or a court decision is likely to cause irreparable harm.
Arbitration
D|R Arbitration & Litigation partners are recognised leading figures in international commercial arbitration. Their unique and vast expertise in the field stems from the richness of their backgrounds as law professors, experienced counsel and holders of key positions in international arbitration institutions and associations.
Our talented arbitration team handles arbitration proceedings involving a broad range of substantive laws and arbitration rules in a variety of industries and sectors.
Our partners have gained experience in investment arbitration proceedings both as counsel for investors and as expert witness appointed by States. Our considerable knowledge of investor-State arbitration, combined with strong academic credentials, allow us to fully understand and represent the instances of both investors and States.
Lengthy arbitration proceedings may result in awards that are not spontaneously satisfied by the losing party. In international arbitration, the recognition and enforcement or the challenge of arbitral awards, while often neglected by the parties at an early stage, become crucial for the ultimate satisfaction of the creditor.
D|R Arbitration & Litigation assists their clients in carefully considering these issues while drafting the arbitration agreement and our team represents them in both enforcing foreign awards in Italy and setting aside procedures.
In case of parallel enforcement proceedings in multiple jurisdictions, our team works in close cooperation with trusted colleagues practising in foreign jurisdictions.
Litigation
In order to best protect clients’ interests, resorting to court litigation is, at times, inevitable. The experience gained over the years, also handling highly sensitive disputes, allows us to identify the best procedural strategy for each case.
We are used to working with the utmost care when preparing our cases, from analyzing the legal issues to going through large amount of documentary evidence, up to the drafting of briefs. Indeed, we are convinced that professional quality cannot be obtained but through passion, attention, time and energy.
The “boutique” dimension of our law firm implies that our professionals entertain a direct, personal and daily contact with the clients, for the sake of whom we strenuously fight to reach the best possible result.
What sets us apart is the enthusiasm we put in our work, being ours a cohesive and well-structured team, that is always and in any case on the clients’ side.
D|R Arbitration & Litigation deals with many types of domestic and cross-border transactions, assisting clients on various issues related to EU law and its application in the Member States, both on substantial and procedural matters.
Our practice includes litigation before the European Court of Justice and national courts representing private individuals or companies on the interpretation of EU law.
The safeguard of the fundamental human rights provided by the European Court of Human Rights attracts more and more attention, not only of individuals, but also of companies that believe to have been victims of a violation of their rights and guarantees as set out in the European Convention of Human Rights or in its additional Protocols. Still, the higher the number of requests filed with the Court, the higher the rate of rejections: approximately 95% of applications are struck out or declared inadmissible.
Given their academic background and deep knowledge of the field, our partners can assist clients in drafting and filing applications before the ECHR, thus assuring the most fruitful result for the client.