Starting from December 15, 2014, the new Ethics Code for lawyers is in force in Italy.
The new Ethics Code was published in Official Journal no. 241 on October 16, 2014. It enacts the provisions contained in Professional Law no. 247/2012. For the first time the Ethics Code is explicitly based on an ordinary law thus solving previous debates on the origin and nature of the professional rules.
The Code contains several new provisions, among which:
- simplification of the rules regarding the possibility to advertise by providing information on the practice. Advertisement is ethical if it is done transparently, truthfully, and without comparing to other lawyers’ services (Article 17).
- freedom to establish the legal fees, which are agreed between lawyer and client and are based, among others, on the complexity of the case. (Articles 25 and 27)
- ban on contingency fees (Article 25, para 2)
The new Ethics Code is available (in Italian) at http://www.consiglionazionaleforense…
More information on the novelties brought by Ethics Code are available (in Italian) at http://www.altalex…
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