Legal assistance and advice on Business Law

Michele Rizzo Law Firm provides legal assistance and advice on Business Law to private individuals, local authorities, other professionals, aspiring entrepreneurs and start-ups, SMEs, and large Italian and foreign companies (mainly Greek).

In particular, the Firm assists its clients on issues related to Italian Administrative Law, Civil Law, Commercial Law, Corporate Law and European Union Law governing the life and activities of a business organization,  from the start-up to the development stage (excluding thus the areas of Penal Law, Labour Law, Tax Law, Industrial and Intellectual Property Law and Bankruptcy Law).

In particular, the Firm provides its legal services:

a. in the establishment and “incubation” stage of new entrepreneurial activities, both companies destined to carry out a “traditional” economic activity and innovative start-ups (which, according to Italian law, are companies less than five years old that are engaged in the production, development and marketing of goods or services of high technological value and growth potential);

b. in the ordinary management and development stage of the activity of a large enterprise or an SME, not only in Italy but also abroad.

With reference to the setting up of new business activities in Italy, for instance, the Firm offers aspiring entrepreneurs the following legal services:

• identifying the most suitable legal form for carrying out the business and, in the event that the company form is chosen, the drafting of the company’s articles of association and the shareholders’ agreements that will govern the relations between the partners;
• identifying not only the sector-specific regulations applicable to the company, but also the authorizations and/or permits necessary for carrying out the specific business activity (e.g. commercial authorizations, environmental, urban planning and health authorizations and opinions; privacy)
• management of relations with public administrations, including assistance in procedures for obtaining the aforementioned authorization measures;
• identifying the potential start-up funding and assistance in obtaining it, for example through:

–  the management on behalf of the client of the procedures for obtaining public funding issued by Italian and European public administrations;

–  support to the client in negotiating with the banks to obtain bank loans and drafting and negotiation of the related loan agreements proposed by the banks;

–  support to the client in the drafting and negotiation of agreements with private investors aimed at acquiring the financial capital necessary for the establishment of an enterprise or for the testing of innovative goods or products;

• drafting of contract schedules for the regulation of legal and commercial relations with suppliers, distributors, agents and customers (both B2B and B2C contracts);
• drafting and negotiation of contracts for the acquisition and management of immovable property to be used in the business of the company (click here for the list of legal services provided by the Firm in the field of Real Estate Law);

Particular attention is paid by the Firm to innovative start-ups and more specifically to their “incubation” stage.

In this stage, for instance, the Firm supports the already established start-ups and private investors (e.g. venture capital funds, business angels, club deals ) in negotiating, preparing and revising term sheets and other agreements for the provision of economic resources necessary to allow start-ups to complete the testing stage of their innovative product or service or to verify their commercial validity.

In the ordinary management stage of a company and the international development of an entrepreneurial activity, the Firm also offers the following legal services to companies:

• in the field of Company Law:

– legal support to corporate bodies (e.g. the sole director or board of directors, the audit board, the assembly) on Company Law matters, also with reference to the ordinary corporate secretary activity and to the obligations falling within the competence of the aforementioned bodies;

– legal assistance in identifying the methods for carrying out extraordinary corporate transactions (e.g. transfers of business units and contribution of the same to companies, mergers) and their subsequent implementation;

• legal assistance and consultancy on the ordinary management of the company’s relations with the Italian and foreign administrative authorities, with banks, with its customers and with its Italian and foreign business partners.

As part of this activity, legal support is also provided for the recovery of debts owed to the company by consumers, other companies and the PA;

• the negotiation, preparation and revision of contract schedules for the regulation of relations with customers, suppliers, distributors and agents both in Italy and abroad.

In this sector, moreover, the Firm supports companies in the negotiation, preparation and revision of agreements with other Italian and foreign commercial partners for the development of the company’s activities also abroad, such as: contracts for the establishment of business networks, consortia and joint ventures.

• update on new sector-specific regulations applicable to the company and support in identifying and implementing any measures to be adopted at company level to adapt to them;
• legal assistance and advice on unfair competition and unfair commercial practices;
• legal assistance and advice in relation to consumer protection legislation;
• legal support with national and European public tenders for the granting of funding and other facilitations to businesses, such as innovation, internationalization and digitalization grants.

Upon request, this support may also consist in the management of the relevant procedures on behalf of the client.