Italy

There is only one category of lawyer in Italy (avvocato/avvocatessa). Lawyers can carry out the full range of legal work including conducting litigation and appearing in court.

Lawyers are under a duty to:

• Protect the right to liberty, as well as the inviolability and effectiveness of the right to representation.

• Ensure that trials and hearings conform to proper procedures.

• In the practice of their profession:

• ensure that laws conform to the principles of the Constitution and to EU Regulations;

• ensure that those principles, as well as those in the European Convention on Human Rights, are respected for the protection and in the interest of the assisted party.

The candidate lawyer must complete a five-year Master’s Degree (Laurea a ciclo unico Magistrale in Giurisprudenza) and then must pass the Italian Bar examination (Bar exam) (esame di abilitazione all’esercizio della professione forense).

After passing the Bar exam and registering with the regional Bar Council (Consiglio dell’Ordine degli Avvocati), an Italian attorney can legally practice Italian law anywhere in Italy, not only in the geographical area where the Bar exam was passed.

Each regional Bar Council must maintain a publicly available register of lawyers in its district.

There is also a national register, which is held by the CNF (https://www.consiglionazionaleforense.it/ricerca-avvocati).

The lawyer, the association or the professional society must stipulate, autonomously or through conventions subscribed by the CNF or local bar councils, associations or other legal bodies, an insurance policy to cover risks deriving from the exercise of the profession, including those incurred through the supervision of documents, sums of money, securities and other assets received on deposit by clients (Article 12, Legal Profession Law).

The essential conditions and the minimum limits of such insurance policies are established and updated every five years by the Minister of Justice, after consultation with the CNF.

The remuneration of the legal professional is generally agreed in writing at the time of the assignment.

Fees can be agreed as follows:

• On a time basis.

• As a lump sum.

• By agreement on one or more matters.

• On the basis of the fulfilment and timing of the service.

• For individual phases or services or for the entire activity.

• As a percentage of the value of the business or on what benefit is expected to be received, in financial or other types of assets.

Law Decree 55/2014 (as amended from time to time) governs level of fees for professional services when at the time of the appointment or subsequently the compensation has not been determined in writing, where there is a disagreement over the fees, in cases of liquidation as well as performance in the interest of third parties or official services provided for by law.

A lawyer must diligently administer any money received from the assisted party or from third parties for the execution of the professional activity, or the money received on behalf of the assisted party, and must account for such sums promptly. In addition, a lawyer must not keep any sums received on behalf of the assisted party longer than strictly necessary, without the consent of the latter.

In the case of fiduciary deposits, a lawyer must request written instructions and adhere to them. The breach of this duty will lead to the enforcement of censure as disciplinary sanction (see Question 16).

The Bar Council and the other professional associations are requested to promote and check, in general, knowledge of and compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering Regulations. The Minister of Justice supervises the control of the Bar Council in this respect. The central authority to report is Italian Financial Intelligence Unit (Unità di Informazion Finanziaria per l’Italia) which is part of the Bank of Italy. The regulator is the Ministry of Treasury (Ministero dell’Economia e delle Finanze).

On 20 September 2019, the CNF published standards (CNF Standards) and guidelines (CNF Guidelines) with regard to the risks related to money laundering and terrorist financing. Under these rules, lawyers are required to obtain the following client identification (ID) details:

• Natural persons:
  • complete personal details (name, surname, place and date of birth, residential address or legal residence and, where applicable, Italian tax code) and copy of a valid ID document (for example, ID card, passport or any other valid photo ID document with an official stamp/equivalent of a government department/body);
  • where the services are given on behalf of a third party, the complete personal details and the copy of a valid ID document of the beneficial owner;
  • employment or professional activities performed (and, if applicable, also complete details of the employment or professional activities performed by the beneficial owner).
• In all other cases:
  • registered name;
  • registered office;
  • company number and VAT number;
  • personal details and copy of a valid ID document of an authorised signatory (natural person authorised to act on behalf of the company);
  • ID evidence of the authorised signatory, together with evidence to confirm their representative powers;
  • personal details and copy of an ID document of the ultimate beneficial owner(s).
  • ownership chart (showing controlled and controlling entities).