Michele Rizzo Law Firm provides foreigners living or working in Italy legal aid and advice mainly on Italian Administrative Law matters or, more correctly, on matters relating to a set of rules governing (i) the activity and internal organization of the Italian Public Administration and (ii) the relations between the latter and private (Italian and foreign) individuals.

The Firm is in fact equipped with a streamlined organizational structure, characterized by the extensive use of the most modern information and communication technologies, which makes it possible to respond promptly at rates that accommodate even private individuals’ needs.

Unlike the majority of ‘traditional’ law firms, however, the Firm assists and advises its foreign clients mainly  outside court proceedings, therefore regardless of the existence of a dispute with public and private third parties that the parties have not managed to resolve on an amicable basis (and must therefore necessarily be resolved by a judge).

In fact, the Firm can act not only as attorney of foreign citizens in court proceedings before administrative courts and civil courts, but above all as legal consultant that assists and supports the client in the management of procedures and relations with Italian public administrations by:

1. direct representation of the client before Italian public entities;
2. preparing legal opinions;
3. the preparation of the acts to be submitted to the Italian public sector bodies in order to obtain a commercial – or building – authorization or a public financing; as well as
4. drafting and negotiation of agreements between private individuals and Italian public entities, where permitted by the current legislation.

Foreign citizens can also take advantage of legal support in court and out of court in relation to issues regarding:

• Real Estate Law, in which the Firm assists its clients before Italian public entities in urban planning and construction procedures, but also in the negotiation and revision of contracts of sale and management of real estate;
• Business Law limited to issues related to the start-up of a ‘traditional’ business or an innovative start-up or Consumer Law. In the latter area, for instance, the Firm assists private individuals in disputes with telephone companies or electricity or natural gas retail companies (e.g. unjustified fees).

In the following paragraphs, we will take a look at how the Firm concretely provides legal support to foreign citizens living or working in Italy in its three areas of activity:

• Italian Administrative Law;
• Real Estate Law;
• Business Law.

Legal services offered to foreign citizens on Italian Administrative Law matters.

The Firm provides legal assistance and advice to foreign citizens in litigation proceedings before the Italian ordinary and administrative courts but mainly in out-of-court proceedings on Italian Administrative Law matters and, in particular, on issues relating to:

• the silence or delay of the Italian Public Administration in adopting administrative measures and in the compensation of damages caused by the unlawful conduct of the entity;
• the access to acts and regulations on transparency within Italian public authorities;
• administrative self-protection and in particular the annulment of administrative acts;
• town planning and building law (click here for the list of legal assistance and consultancy services offered by the Firm to private individuals on town planning and building law, but also on other Real Estate Law matters);
• public goods under the ownership of the Italian state and other public sector bodies;
• expropriation for the public benefit and emergency occupations;
• Energy Law, in the field of which, for instance, the Firm offers legal assistance and advice on procedures for granting the authorization for the construction and management of plants and for the production of electricity from renewable sources (e.g. photovoltaic, wind, biomass, geothermal), but also on the administrative procedures managed by the competent Italian authorities, such as the Italian Regulatory Authority for Electricity, Gas and Water (AEEGSI), the Energy Services Manager (GSE) and the Ministry for Economic Development;
• Environmental Law, in the field of which the Firm provides amongst others legal aid in environmental remediations and authorizations to discharge wastewater;
• certified signalling of commencement of activity (SCIA) and authorizations for the exercise of economic activities (e.g. commercial, production, accommodation facilities, fuel distributors, social and welfare centres and trade fairs);
• Art, Cultural Heritage and Landscape Law, regarding, for instance (i) declarations of cultural interest in movable and immovable property in Italy, (ii) the issuing of landscape constraints on buildings or areas of significant public interest, and (iii) landscape authorizations;
• calls for tenders and open competitions organized by Italian public sector bodies and the European Union. In this sector the Firm assists foreign citizens in the preparation of claims for the allocation of funding, facilitations and subsidies and in managing the relevant administrative procedures;
• hygiene and health legislation;
• arrangements, agreements and conventions between Italian public and private entities.

Legal services offered to foreign citizens on Real Estate Law matters.

The Firm provides foreign citizens with a wide range of legal support and consultancy services on aspects of Real Estate Law, both in and out of court.

In particular, the reference is made to legal services on matters relating to:

1. transfers of ownership and leases of buildings and private and public areas located in Italy;
2. the Italian town planning and building regulations;
3. contracts for the construction of buildings and their management (private procurement contracts, property management contracts and facility management contracts);
4. contracts, funding and facilitations granted by Italian public sector bodies for seismic upgrading interventions and for increasing the energy efficiency of private buildings.

More precisely, the Firm provides legal assistance and advice on the transfer of ownership or other rights to private real estate assets in Italy, and in particular:

• the structuring and carrying out of transactions related to the acquisition and transfer of immovable properties, including the financing of such transactions. These activities also include the performance of urban/construction and environmental due diligence on the target assets;
• drafting and negotiating contracts relating to the transfer of ownership or other rights to immovable property, such as:

– contracts for sale of real estate asset or contracts for the sale of shares in real estate companies;

– lease contracts;

• drafting and negotiating contracts with banks and leasing companies for the financing of real estate transactions, such as – by way of example – land loan contracts, mortgage loans and real estate leasing contracts.

In addition, the Firm offers assistance and consulting services to private parties in relation to transactions involving the real estate assets of Italian public entities, such as:

• privatization of public assets forming part of the non-disposable assets of local authorities which are no longer functional to the carrying out of the institutional functions of the reference body and which are susceptible of valorization or disposal;
• transfer (disposal) and lease of immovable properties included in the available assets of public entities, in accordance with the Italian public sector accounting regulations.

With specific reference to the Italian town-planning and building regulations, on the other hand, the Firm provides legal support to private parties before the Italian administrative court and out of court in relation to:

• the procedures of drafting, adopting ad approving general and implementation urban plans and their variants.

As part of these proceedings, moreover, legal support is provided to foreign citizens (and associations promoting the protection of the landscape and the environment to which they belong) for the submission of applications, statements and observations;

• the identification of the applicable urban and building regulations and of the building permits necessary for the new construction, renovation and restoration/conservation of individual buildings or building complexes in Italy.

The Firm provides the aforementioned legal services also (i) in the field of complex real-estate development projects aimed at establishing residential, commercial, industrial and artisanal, managerial, tourist-accommodation and public or of public interest functions, (ii) in the field of public housing and social housing initiatives, as well as (iii) in the field of rehabilitation of degraded immovable property and disused sites initiatives.

In particular, the legal services offered by the Firm to foreign citizens living or working in Italy also include out-of-court assistance and support in proceedings before administrative courts regarding (i) the issue, refusal to issue and annulment of a building permit or other measure enabling construction activity, warnings against the continuation of work, orders to suspend work or orders for the demolition of buildings made without a building permit or in contravention thereof, but (ii) also regarding opinions, visas and permits issued by the health authorities or the various authorities responsible for managing historical, landscape and environmental constraints;

• administrative sanctions for buildings violations and, in any case, for the violation of planning and building regulations.

Moreover, the Firm offers legal assistance and consultancy services in relation to contracts for the construction and management of real estate in Italy, such as:

• drafting and negotiation of private procurement contracts and legal advice in the performance of the same contracts;
• drafting and negotiation of contracts regarding the management of real estate, such as property management and facility management contracts, and legal advice in the performance of the same contracts.

Finally, we would like to highlight the legal support provided by the Firm in relation to contracts, funding and facilitations granted by Italian public entities for seismic upgrading interventions and for increasing the energy efficiency of private buildings.

Legal services offered to foreign citizens on Business Law matters.

The Firm provides also foreign citizens living or working in Italy legal aid and advice on Business Law matters.

In particular, the Firm assists those who intend to start a “traditional” business or an innovative start-up in Italy.

At the same time, however, the Firm assists foreign citizens with matters related to the Italian consumer protection legislation, and in particular:

• disputes with companies in the telecommunications, energy, waste and water services sector;
• distance contracts;
• defective products.