With whiplash claims and compensation being heavily discussed in the UK’s news, we ask Calogero Boccadutri, the Managing Partner of Boccadutri International Law Firm, on how Italy is progressing with Personal Injury law and how their legal system’s biggest flaw, is somewhat their greatest asset.
When handling complex litigation claims involving serious injuries, fatalities and disabilities what is the biggest challenge you face and how do you overcome this?
In Personal Injury claims the biggest challenge is always putting in the right light the suffering of the victims and their families. Personal injuries can deeply affect the life of the victims and their families and their way of dealing with the consequences of the event. Italian Law provides several specific types of damages, which focus on the more intimate dimension of the victim, the so called ‘non-patrimonial damages’ (opposite to ‘patrimonial damages’), for example, ‘moral damage’ and ‘existential damage’, ‘death damage’. All these are, unfortunately, very difficult to prove. Here it is the second biggest challenge: evidence, which is essential to support the claim.
The most important thing for us is the first approach with the victim and their families. We listen to them, we offer support and free them of the discomfort of dealing with the other parties, Authorities and Bureaucratic system included, to let them concentrate in recovering as soon as and the best as possible. In each phase of the process, we consider all involved aspects and we focus on achieving the best result possible.
As Managing Partner, how do you ensure your company adheres to your company’s standards internationally? How do you maintain the high standards and excellency of your firm on a global sphere?
My team consisted of very well prepared international lawyers. We speak different languages (English, Italian, Spanish, German, French, Polish, Russian, Chinese, Romanian and Turkish), to make communication as easy as possible. We have offices in London, Barcelona, New York, Bucharest, Krakow, Rasario, Palermo, Rome and Milan, which allows clients to meet our lawyers without the need of travelling to Italy. We regularly keep informed about legal news, laws and jurisprudence, keeping an international overview in mind. This allows us to offer legal advice and services that are up-to-date. Finally, we have gained great experience in injury cases, from minor injuries to serious injuries and fatalities, and we know how to deal with insurance companies to get a fair settlement.
As you also specialise in internet fraud, can you state if the changes in online crimes and how you and the legal sector in Italy has dealt with these changes?
Internet fraud is a growing problem and the most common victims are the ones who think it will never happen to them. This happens particularly in the forex market, which have registered a steady upswing. Investors are lured by the promise of significant returns and become easy quarries for swindler. Boccadutri’s Forex lawyers have successfully recovered money for clients in various international forex scams and frauds.
What improvements do you think can be made on Italian regulations regarding personal injury?
Italian system, both legal and bureaucratic, is very complicated and intricate. Each process takes much time and effort and, in the end, it is very difficult to deal with it. Therefore, it needs to be simplified and quickened. A little step forward was made with the introduction of the mediation process, but still this is not enough. For this reason, our first step is always searching for amicable settlement. This helps save time and money, although it can even be more challenging than a judicial procedure, since it requires a huge effort from all parties involved; it is never easy to find a meeting point. But when we succeed in it, it’s a great satisfaction.
The UK recently reported they are trying to cut down on whiplash and personal injury claims; is this a problem in Italy, whereby people may be inclined to take advantage of the system? How do you think the problem should be dealt with?
Most cases of personal injury are caused by car accidents. We deal with all and any injuries, from simple whiplash to fatal injuries. In the past few years, Courts have widen the range of compensable damages thanks to an extensive interpretation to the category of ‘non-patrimonial damages’. This offers more chance to receive a more global compensation. On the other hand, some people out there try to take advantages from this opening in personal injury claims. However, this is not that easy, since they find the opposition of insurance companies, in the first place, which are very strict in dealing with requests for compensation. Then, they crash with the judicial system, which, as said before, is very intricate and slow and requires very strong evidentiary bases, before condemning to compensation. Therefore, swindlers must be strongly motivated. Basically, the main limit of our judicial system becomes the, unexpected, solution to this problem.
