DOLCE • LAUDA offers its clients assistance
and advice in the following fields of law:
Click on the fields
Each EU member state has its own corporate structures that are governed by their own domestic laws, but they can operate anywhere in the EU. For every organisation, the right type of company for you can be found for international business purposes. With our direct international law firm connections, we can also assist with the creation of business structures outside the EU.
Messrs. Rodolfo Dolce and Martin Cordella are certified as specialist lawyers in this area. While both focus on international business law, Mr. Rodolfo Dolce is also a certified specialist in labour law.
Whether it is Legislative Decree 231 in Italy (criminal liability of legal entities) or statutory insolvency proceedings in Germany, each country has its own liability risks. We can protect you from cross-border risk thanks to our vast experience of advising about corporate responsibilities and also acting as temporary board members if required.
Messrs. Rodolfo Dolce and Martin Cordella are certified specialist lawyers in this area. Both focus on international business law, and Mr. Dolce is also a certified specialist in labour law.
Cross-border trade has its own rules. Before engaging in international business, entrepreneurs are faced with questions, such as: “Are my general terms and conditions also valid for the foreign contractual partner? What do I have to think about before placing or confirming an order? Under what conditions can I withdraw from the contract? How long am I liable for material defects, and am I also liable when not at fault? Legally, how long do I have to pursue any claim? What can I do to assert my claims and where? How can I protect my interests if my business partner files for bankruptcy?”
Taking into account the international focus of a trading business, we give our clients comprehensive advice on the structuring of their contracts and terms and conditions, support them in contract performance and enforce their interests in and out of court and through arbitration, if necessary.
Ms. Caroline Havemann (licensed to practice in Germany) and Mr. Carlo Malossi (licensed to practice in Italy) are your specialist lawyers in this area.
We support companies and distributors in selecting distribution formats and structuring distribution contracts, taking into account the specifics of Italian and German law as well as existing practices in Italy and Germany.
We can advise you on the structuring of commercial agency, brokerage, distribution and franchise agreements as well as on legal issues arising from the implementation and termination of such distribution arrangements. Typical issues cover termination for good cause, the effectiveness of customer protection clauses or non-competition clauses and the existence of any compensation claims.
We also support you in enforcing your claims, including cross-border action where necessary. As we are licensed to practice in both Italy and Germany, enforcement strategies can be tailored to your objectives regardless of the location of the legal dispute, even if this action is cross-border.
Mr. Martin Cordella (licensed to practice in Germany and Italy) is a certified specialist lawyer in international business law.
Has someone used your trademark, registered your name or trademark as a domain, or used a picture of you or your work on social media without your consent. Has a competitor advertised their product citing Italian origin as a virtue without there being any real Italian connection? ....
Our IP team, Thanh Lan Nguyen-Gatti (licensed to practice in Germany), Angela Bonacina (licensed to practice in Italy) and Dr. Rudolf Lauda (licensed to practice in Germany), Bruno Bauer (licensed to practice in Germany), can support you in these and other issues both in Germany and Italy, in and out of court.
Dr. Stefan Dangel (licensed to practice in Germany) is your specialist lawyer with many years’ experience in this field, having represented many well-known companies.
Foreign investors and employers puzzle over German collective labour law and the resultant far-reaching rights of the works council. For example, if new software or a new bonus system is to be introduced, employee representatives always participate in the decision-making process.
By contrast, foreign investors and employers operating in Italy for the first time are surprised by the many (generally binding) collective agreements that govern employment arrangements, even for senior executives at the highest level.
This can then lead to total amazement on both sides when an employer decides to terminate an employment contract and the differences in the two legal systems become clear. On the one hand, there are regulated statutory and collectively agreed high value severance claims of various kinds; and on the other, additional formalities requiring careful preparation and planning to minimise risk.
Doriana de Luca (licensed to practice in Italy), who specialises in Italian labour law, and Christian Hermann (licensed to practice in Germany), who is a certified specialist in German labour law, will guide you through the intricacies of this complex area.
Our lawyers
are licensed to practice in all courts in Germany and Italy, apart from the
German Federal Supreme Court, and have many years of forensic experience,
including representation before international courts of arbitration.
Procedures for the purchase and sale of real estate in Italy and Germany differ significantly. In Italy, the use of preliminary contracts - "compromessi" - before the final purchase contract, such as the signing of an irrevocable purchase offer by the buyer, is the rule. In Germany, however, this is rarely the case.
In Italy, contracts signed before the final purchase contract, even if not signed in front of a notary, are fully effective and binding between the parties. They therefore give rise to a number of obligations, in particular for the buyer, which may in particular, but not only, result in the loss of the deposit generally agreed at that stage. Moreover, these preliminary contracts already establish the obligation to pay brokerage commission.
The transfer of ownership in Germany, can only be affected in notarised form, and is only finalised by registration in the land register and not just with the parties’ consent, as in Italy. Also, for this reason and unlike in Italy, the purchase price is not paid when the purchase contract is concluded before the notary, but after the notary has obtained all authorisations and applied for a priority notice of conveyance in the land register for the buyer.
It is therefore more important than ever to use a specialist in this area, not least to avoid "expensive" mistakes that can turn the dream of a new home into a nightmare.
We offer legal advice and support in the Italian and German real estate sector, support for the purchase and sale of real estate in the negotiations and financing phase, evaluation of mediation contracts concluded or to be concluded with agents, preparation and review of preliminary contracts as well as real estate purchase contracts in the commercial and private sector.
Dr. Giovanni Gelardi is your specialist lawyer in this area.
Depending on the subject, all our Italian colleagues can advise you on Italian law.
In recent decades, family law has developed rapidly and opened up with new forms of cohabitation arrangements, from civil partnerships to same-sex marriages. With the rising number of mixed nationality marriages, the importance of international private law and EU regulations is also growing, from the EU Maintenance Regulation through to the Rome III Regulation and the Brussels IIa Regulation. Nevertheless, national law remains applicable to many of its nationals and has to be taken into account, in particular with international adoptions.
International succession requires preparatory advice and tax saving measures.
Thirty years’ experience, in-depth knowledge of the Italian and German legal systems, cooperation with colleagues in the World Link for Law network in key countries, enable us to enforce the rights of heirs, legatees and beneficiaries of their inheritance. From will-writing, declarations of acceptance or rejection, obtaining European certificates of succession, investigating assets for beneficiaries of compulsory portions and complex inheritance disputes to the sale of inherited assets, we advise and represent clients in and out of court, in Germany and Italy. In compulsory mediation proceedings in Italy, we handle electronic inheritance applications for submission to the Italian tax authorities, with adjustments to the land register, and in Germany, we also deal with notifications and inheritance tax declarations for submission to the tax authorities.
Dr. André Castelli (licensed to practice in Italy and German) is your specialist lawyer in this area.
Liability law is a broad field that includes compensation claims ranging from traffic accidents, which often also result in personal injury, to product liability and any type of breach of contract that results in a loss.
Dr. Stefan Dangel, (licensed to practice in Germany), partner and mediator, and Dr. Marilena Bacci (licensed to practice in Germany and Italy), are your contacts for all matters of international private law and German or Italian law.
The insurance market now offers a very wide range of products which can give rise to legal issues in the liquidation of the losses provided for in the insurance contract and/or third-party claims.
Dr. Marilena Bacci (licensed to practice in Germany and Italy) has represented insurance companies and victims for many years. Her area of responsibility includes advice and representation in the various insurance sectors, such as transport or commercial credit insurance; here she provides extrajudicial advice and legal representation before German and Italian courts.
À notre époque du numérique, caractérisée par les commandes en ligne et les contrats à distance, la circulation internationale des marchandises (nationale et transfrontalière, à l'intérieur et à l'extérieur de l'Union Européenne) est devenue de plus en plus importante pour le commerce. Des conflits surviennent non seulement entre les transporteurs et les transitaires, mais aussi souvent entre les fournisseurs et les destinataires de la marchandise. Les règles de transport sont un élément indispensable de tout accord de distribution et intègrent le contrat, par exemple, par le choix des INCOTERMS appropriés.
De nombreuses questions juridiques découlent par ailleurs du droit public, en cas de procédures de pénalités administratives et, plus généralement, de sanctions contre les infractions aux réglementations nationales, qu'il s'agisse du transport de marchandises dangereuses, de surcharge, de non-respect des temps de repos, etc.
Dott. Marilena Bacci, avocate italienne et allemande, représente depuis des années des entreprises de transport et leur offre sa consultation pour toute question juridique dans le domaine du droit des transports, tant dans le cadre du droit international privé que du droit allemand et/ou italien.
