Globalisation may well be shrinking the world and making it easier to do business far and wide, but navigating international law and practices is never straightforward.
For Attilio Cheso, who’d built up a successful legal practice in Italy before deciding to widen the firm’s horizons, it made sense to provide international clients with more than legal advice.
Rather than positioning his firm as international lawyers, his new London office became a consultancy, drawing on the expertise and specialisms of associates to ensure that clients not only had the legal advice they needed, but access to any further services required to complete a transaction abroad.
Today, Cheso Consulting has offices in Bedford Square and in Mumbai, as well as its Cheso International Law office in Bassano del Grappa, around an hour from Venice, in the heart of Italy’s north-east industrial cluster.
The firm works with companies and individuals on anything from international contracts and corporate due diligence to the buying and selling of businesses. In addition, Cheso Consulting can coordinate expert assistance for those seeking support with further services, such as banking and financial regulations and tax advice for foreign investors.
“Within the legal world, competition in Italy is very strong but we are finding that our specialist international services are increasingly in demand,”
explained Attilio.
“The vast majority of businesses are working across borders now, and even those that don’t realise immediately that they need those services, will inevitably find that they do. Until a couple of years ago, cross-border arrangements between the UK and Europe were fairly straightforward, but not anymore.
“We have positioned ourselves to serve businesses and entrepreneurs that need to put those protections in place, to make them aware of the risks or pitfalls of transactions with entities abroad, because it is often easy to underestimate how important that is.
“Our London hub was created not only to be a platform for our own legal services, but also to coordinate different providers and ensure that clients navigating another country’s legal or professional services had access to all-round expertise for whatever international transactions in which they may be involved.
“I have spent time building strategic relationships so that we can act as an arranger, so if clients are buying property or a business abroad, we can arrange surveyors or carry out due diligence, if they need financial advice we put them in touch with local accountants, effectively pulling together all the professional assistance they need.”
When Cheso Consulting began to focus on business and international law, Attilio’s aim was to provide services for smaller businesses for two reasons. Firstly, a high proportion of the law firms in Italy are sole traders and on the whole it is only the very large firms that provide international services, and small businesses cannot always afford the fees the larger firms charge.
“Secondly,”
added Attilio,
“if you use a large law firm, you will probably be assigned a junior lawyer. I want to be a tailor, not a factory, I want to deal with clients myself, and give them the benefit of my knowledge and experience and be with them every step of the way.”
Attilio started his law practice in Italy in 1996, taking time out to study for a Master in International Law before establishing the London office around 10 years ago. Although the credit crunch had taken hold, leaving many businesses struggling, it was a time of increased globalisation as developing technology made international transactions in many ways easier.
Although we certainly live in a world where international business is more straightforward, recent challenges have had a significant impact. Brexit has made it more difficult to move people, goods and services within the EU, while the conflict in Ukraine has brought further uncertainty. Although things are returning to normal with regard to the coronavirus pandemic, there’s still some reluctance to travel, despite restrictions easing.
“It’s not so easy to do business abroad right now,”
said Attilio.
“Costs are rising and that is causing real problems in terms of delivering on existing contracts. In all the years I have been practising, this is the first time I have actually seen force majeur used, but after the disruption caused by the pandemic and now the rising prices of raw materials, some companies simply can’t meet the terms they have agreed. It is vital to make sure the right contractual protection is in place as prices rise and put international commercial relationships, in terms of imports and exports, at risk.
“Anyone facing these difficulties must be properly assisted. There are solutions, but people have to be aware of the issues we are all facing.”
Find out more about Cheso Consulting at www.cheso.co.uk