Giovanni Cristoffanini

Born in Genoa on 24 April 1957, he graduated with honours in law from the University of Genoa and has been a member of the Genoa Bar Association since 1985. He is qualified to appear before the Supreme Court.

He began his practice at Cristoffanini Law Firm, founded in Genoa in 1947 by his father, Mario Cristoffanini (1913-1994). At the beginning of the year 2008, he established the firm as a professional association and the other current partners are Giovanni Bravo and Lorenzo Bottero.

His professional background starts from a wide and consolidated experience in the field of commercial and corporate law with reference to mergers and acquisitions, extraordinary finance, family business and business succession (family agreements, trusts, donations and holding companies incorporation), banking and financial markets, as well as in the field of bankruptcy. In this area, he has developed significant expertise regarding the use of all the crisis resolution tools provided by the Bankruptcy Law, including debt restructuring and reorganization agreements, and composition with creditors procedures (with liquidation of the assets and business continuity).

He works with companies and business enterprises operating in a variety of sectors, including commodities trading, shipbuilding and ship repair, shipping and transportation, energy, and private health care, with respect to which he also assists and advises in the areas of industrial and competition law and the main business contracts: joint ventures, “A.T.I.s”, tenders, domestic and international sale and purchase agreements, agency and distribution, franchising, and leasing.

With regard to private clients, his professional expertise has been developed mainly in the areas of civil liability and inheritance law.

In handling cases he does not rigidly follow standardized methods, with the aim of arriving at solutions that take into account the specific characteristics of each case, so as to achieve the most satisfactory results.

Within the above areas, he currently deals with complex litigation, including arbitration, with particular experience and expertise in corporate matters (continuously assisting both companies and/or shareholders in the challenge of resolutions of corporate bodies, and directors and/or statutory auditors in liability actions).

He is an arbitrator in civil law disputes, both as a sole arbitrator and a third arbitrator, also appointed by Institutional Authorities.

He taught at the SOGEA Training School and lectures at the Bar Exam School “Mauro De Andrè,” sponsored by the Genoa Bar Association for the professional training of practicing lawyers. He has also collaborated with Confindustria Genoa, conducting training courses in the area of civil liability. He participates in conferences and formation courses as a speaker on commercial law and business crisis.

He is fluent in English.