Claudio Cocuzza

Partner

Claudio has been the protagonist of some of the most important transactions in the Italian real estate market of the last decade

Education

J.D., magna cum laude, Università degli Studi di Siena, 1985

LL.M., University of Pennsylvania Law School, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A., 1998 (Fulbright Scholarship)

Master in Corporate Taxation, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, CERTI, 1993

Areas of activity

Real Estate, Retail, Corporate – Mergers & Acquisitions, Competition and Antitrust, Compliance, Litigation and Arbitration

Languagues

Italian, English, and French

Claudio is the founding partner of the firm.

With more than twenty years’ experience in advising on real estate investments and development for primary retail companies, Claudio has been the protagonist in some of the major Italian real estate market transactions. Claudio has assisted leading retail operators in the acquisition of trophy buildings, and has assisted several foreign companies in their real estate development in Italy. His clients include property companies, real estate funds, fashion retailers, and IT retailers. Claudio also has considerable experience in the M&A sector, having assisted his clients in acquisitions, mergers and divestments of companies in both the real estate and IT sectors. Several times over the years Claudio has been appointed to arbitration boards mainly in connection with disputes concerning lease and franchising agreements. Claudio is also an expert in anti-money laundering legislation, and assists banks in connection with compliance with applicable rules.

Claudio was adjunct professor of competition law at the Università degli Studi di Siena and at the Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca. He was lecturer at the Tulane Law School, New Orleans, USA (EU Antitrust) in 1996, 1997 and 1999. He regularly lectures on real estate law at the Retail University of the ICSC (International Council of Shopping Centres) in Brussels. He is regularly invited to congresses and conferences on these subjects, also at international level.

Claudio was chair of the AIJA (Association Internationale des Jeunes Avocats) in the year 2003; he is currently past chair of the Real Estate Section of IBA – International Bar Association, and member of the board of the Penn Law European Society as well as of the legal team of ICSC.

He is a member of the Anti-Money Laundering Committee of the National Bar Association and of CCBE (The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe) and Co-founder and Deputy Coordinator of the Board of Directors of the Camera degli Avvocati Internazionalisti.

Claudio is a High Court lawyer.

Publications

The Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988: An Overview, in Review of International Business Law, Vol. 3, N. 1, 1989, pp. 65 and ff..;
State Involvement in Terrorist Activities and Economic Sanctions: the Libyan Case,in Italian Yearbook of International Law, Vol. VII, 1986 –1987, pp. 190 and ff.;
Are States Relinquishing Their Sovereign Rights? The GATT Dispute Settlement Process in a Globalized Economy, in Tulane Journal of International and Comparative Law, Vol. 4, N. 2, Summer 1996, p. 162 and ff.;
Issuance of Preferred Quotas of Limited Liability Company, in Le Società, IPSOA, Vol. 5, 1997, p. 588 and ff.;International Antitrust Co-Operation in a Global Economy,in European Competition Law Review, 1998, p. 156 and ff.;
Commercial Dispute Resolution System among States after Uruguay Round of GATT,in Diritto del Commercio Internazionale, 1996, p. 139 and ff.;
Antitrust Law and International Cooperation,in Rivista di Diritto Internazionale Privato e Processuale, Vol. 1, 1999;
Pay-TV between Maccanico Law and Antitrust Law,in Il Diritto dell’Informazione e dell’Informatica, Vol. 1, 1999;
Agency and Distribution in Europe,V.V. A.A., monograph concerning EU legislation in the field of Agency and Distribution, author of the chapter regarding Italy, Ed. Kluwer, 2000;
Antitrust and Pay-TV: the Italian case, in Fordham International Law Journal”,Vol. 23, 2000;
Lawyers between money laundering and ethics obligation,in Rassegna Forense, Vol. I 2005;
The problem of reconciling antitrust laws with the rules of the legal profession,in The European Lawyer, Issue 43, November 2004, p. 29 and ff.;
The Second and Third money laundering directive,in The New Anti money laundering rules for professionals, Giuffrè, 2006, pp. 15 and ff.;
Thirty questions and answers for lawyers on the new Anti money laundering rules, in Cronache dal Foro Parmense, Anno 15, no. 1, February 2006, pp. 29 and ff.Money laundering and the legal profession: new rules and responsibilities for lawyers,a book published by IPSOA, 2006. (co-authored with M. Gioffrè );
Commentary to the newly amended art. 2233 of the Civil Code concerning the abolition of the prohibition of the pactum de quota litis,IPSOA, Commentary to the Italian Civil Code, 2007, Editors G. Alpa and V. Mariconda.Shopping Centre Lease –
A Pan-European Overview,a book published by ICSC, 2008, author of the portion on Italy and Co-EditorAnti Money laundering regulations and professional secrecy: a difficult path for lawyers and other professionals,in The New Anti money laundering rules for professionals, Giuffrè Editore, 2008, pp. and ff.;
Il riciclaggio del denaro – Il fenomeno, il reato, le norme di contrasto,a book published by Ermanno Cappa e Luigi Domenico Cerqua, Giuffrè Editore 2012, author of the chapter “La collaborazione attiva dei professionisti”;
Shopping Centre Development – The planning and building permit process across Europe,a book published by ICSC, 2012, author of the portion on Italy and Co-Editor.
La Riforma delle Grandi Locazioni. Una rivoluzione nel mondo delle locazioni abitative, in Monitorimmobiliare, n. 6/2015;
Il retail butta alle spalle il lungo periodo di flessione, in Focus QI, H1, February 2017;
Nuove disposizioni normative per il retail in Focus QI, n. 37, June 2017;
“Professione: Avvocato”, Giuffré Editore, Milano 2017;
La nuova legge sul whistleblowing: quale “tenuta” per il segreto e la riservatezza? in our periodic newsletter, December 2017;
La nuova legge sul whistleblowing: quale “tenuta” per il segreto e la riservatezza? in Telex ANIE, February 2018;
La nuova legge sul whistleblowing: quale “tenuta” per il segreto e la riservatezza? in Newscamera Camera di Commercio Spagnola in Italia, March 2018;
Veloci, specializzati e internazionali – le richieste dei retailers ai professionisti del settore legale in Focus QI dedicated to Mapic Italy, May 2018;
Italy: commercial leases of “great relevance”in IBA Real Estate Section – Committees’ Pubblication page;
International E-Discovery: A Global Handbook of Law and Technology with Giacomo Gori, Globe Law and Business, August 2018;
2021: Istruzioni per l'uso in Retail & Food, n. 3/2021;
Mercato retail: il settore in sintesi, in Il Quotidiano Immobiliare, July 17 2021;