Italy

Italian and international companies operating throughout Italy and worldwide turn to Latham’s offices in Milan and Rome for counsel regarding their corporate, transactional, finance and litigation matters.

The firm's Italian practice has extensive experience with both in-bound and out-bound Italian and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, as well as capital markets matters, including US Securities and Exchange Commission-registered deals, private placements, Rule 144A and Regulation S offerings, IPOs, and other debt and equity transactions. In addition, Latham's real estate lawyers advise Italian and international lenders, developers, investors, borrowers, property owners and tenants on property transactions of all types.

Latham has represented Italian banks and companies on leveraged and bridge financings, insolvency and restructurings, and integrated bank and bond products. The firm’s lawyers also have experience in project development and finance, primarily through representation of project lenders, sponsors and developers of alternative energy projects, including co-generation facilities and power production facilities.

The Italian offices boast litigation capacity that hinges on the fields of civil and commercial litigation before arbitral panels or national courts, with a particular focus on M&A and joint venture disputes, corporate insolvency, disputes among shareholders and officers’ liability. 

The Italian practice also includes an antitrust group that is an integral part of the firm’s global Antitrust and Competition Practice. Over the past years, Latham has represented a number of large Italian and foreign companies before the European Commission and Italian regulatory authorities (such as the Autorità Garante della Concorrenza e del Mercato and the Autorità per le Garanzie nelle Comunicazioni). In addition, Latham's Italian lawyers handle a wide variety of administrative law matters, representing private and public companies before administrative law courts. 

Awards & Rankings  

• A top ranked Italian practice in M&A, Banking and Finance, Debt and Equity Capital Markets, and Restructuring in both Chambers Europe 2015 and The Legal 500 2015
• Latham's Italian team won the Excellence for Client Service Award in the 2012 Chambers Europe Awards for Excellence

*Latham & Watkins is the business name of Latham & Watkins (London) LLP, a registered limited liability partnership organised under the laws of New York and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA No. 203820). A list of the names of the partners of Latham & Watkins (London) LLP is open to inspection at its principal place of business, 99 Bishopsgate, London EC2M 3XF, and such persons are either solicitors, registered foreign lawyers or European lawyers. We are affiliated with the firm Latham & Watkins LLP, a limited liability partnership organised under the laws of Delaware.

Latham & Watkins’ Italian offices provide pro bono support to several nonprofit organizations that work with children including:

• AGIRE (Agenzia Italiana Risposta Emergenze), a network of 10 Italian non-governmental organizations that collaborate in times of crisis to ensure an effective response and to mobilize funding
• AVSI Foundation, a not-for-profit non-governemental organization that supports social development in developing countries
• Prometeo, a non-governemental organization that helps patients recover after transplants via a team of psychologists, volunteers and staff
• International Models Project on Women’s rights, an innovative project initiated by the American Bar Association in 2008 to establish a global collaborative research database on de jure and de facto women’s rights

According to the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s third annual TrustLaw Index of Pro Bono, Latham ranks second in the provision of pro bono services in Italy. The 2016 index was “compiled with data collected from over 130 law firms—both large and small—and representing 64,500 lawyers in 75 countries, [and it] provides a snapshot of the resources mobilised by the industry in support of social causes, while also monitoring the growth of the sector globally.”

Survey of Pro Bono Practices and Opportunities

A multi-office team of Latham & Watkins lawyers and professional staff from across the firm’s offices globally conducted extensive research to prepare the 2016 edition of the “Survey of Pro Bono Practices and Opportunities” report. Conducted in conjunction with the Pro Bono Institute (PBI), the unique report is an essential resource for local practitioners, in-house teams and non-profits on pro bono practices around the world.

• Download the chapter about pro bono practices and opportunities in Italy