Studio Legale Sutti’s mission is to provide a full range of legal services to businesses, investors, and foreign colleagues with similar practices, relying primarily on the excellence of our human resources, a client-driven culture, and cutting-edge information technology solutions. With such a goal in mind, SLS was amongst the first Italian firms to switch from the traditional focus on law areas (private vs. public law, domestic vs. international law, civil vs. criminal law, IP legal services vs. patent attorney services) to a more comprehensive and up-to-date approach, where the Firm’s services and skills are deliberately tailored to suit both its prospective and current clients’ needs.
Thus, besides its continuing involvement in the civil and commercial branches of the law, the Firm has progressively implemented a more interdisciplinary and interprofessional practice – now structured into four specialised departments – including business-related administrative law consultation and litigation as well as white collar criminal defence; while private client services, albeit still occasionally provided, have been progressively de-emphasised. For example, SLS is now also a patent and trademark agency, having being implemented since 1996 full-fledged in-house patent attorney services as part of our IP and Competition Department’s activities. Similarly, over the years, the Firm has recruited a number of “commercialisti” (a typical Italian profession corresponding to something in-between the German Steuerberater and accountants / tax advisors / auditors / business consultants, with a business and economic, rather than legal, background), who are active in the framework of our Company-Commercial Department and of our Tax Department.
Thus, SLS nowadays represents almost exclusively corporate clients; and it is especially sought after by many of those who operate in:
- the IT, high-tech and consumer electronics industry;
- the chemical, pharmaceutical, biomedical, cosmetic and nutritional sectors, including bio-technologies;
- the banking and financial market;
- and, as is perhaps normal to expect from an Italian firm, the world of brand products, fashion, and industrial design.
Furthermore, from the very beginning, Studio Legale Sutti has always devoted substantial resources to its work for construction (and other) contractors, and for employers/owners, in complex projects; and since 1990 it has extended its involvement to all the regulatory, governmental and administrative aspects, such as those related to environmental law, construction licenses, city zoning, project finance and commercial property development; and it is accordingly mentioned by International Projects 500 (Legalease) as one of the major commercial firm in Italy which can claim project finance experience.
Concerning international work, it is important to note that SLS – whilst it handles its domestic clients’ problems worldwide, directly instructing the appropriate local counsel and maintaining thorough contacts with the same on their behalf – does not tend to target foreign “final clients”. Its services are instead geared towards foreign law firms, patent agencies and in-house counsel departments. In fact, Studio Legale Sutti presents itself abroad as a one-stop-shop for all their clients’ and employers’ needs related to Italy and South-Eastern Europe.
Actually, the principal aim of our representation offices in London and Tokyo (which do not offer any kind of local legal services) is exactly that of offering to local firms this kind of specialist advice, and representation in courts and arbitrations, in a “barrister-like” fashion, for everything pertaining to Italian and South-Eastern European laws, markets and jurisdictions.
We are therefore especially honoured by the trust and loyalty of foreign colleagues who utilise our services – or simply integrate them in their own.
“You know lawyers. If you ask them whether it’s all right to do something they’ll automatically say no. Because inaction is always safer than action and they can’t get in trouble for giving you bad advice if they tell you to sit on your hands and do nothing.” (Lawrence Block, “A Candle for the Bag Lady”, first appeared in Alfred Hitchcock’s Mistery Magazine, 1968).
Today, Studio Legale Sutti is an organisation entirely devoted to gathering and deploying the skills and specialisations needed to assist and support and implement its clients’ business choices.
Our role, as we see it, is not that of telling you what to do, or whether to do it, but how to do it. And we are willing each time to wager our reputation and bear the responsibility that the approach and the solutions suggested are the best possible in the circumstances.
We deem it a major achievement that we have succeeded in inculcating such a philosophy upon all our members, even in areas of law where counsel’s reluctance to commit himself is traditionally more accentuated.
