Holding the Answers to all your Questions
Floresta Longo e Associati (FLA) is a professional association of specialised lawyers, tax and labour consultants, and has been named in AI’s Global Excellence Awards as the Best Administrative Law Firm within in Italy in 2018. We invited Professor Antonino Longo to tell us more about the success of the company and what makes it so special.
FLA provides specialist legal services both in and out of court across a range of practice areas including but not limited to criminal, civil, administrative, fiscal and labour law. Typically, the firm works with a wide range of clients from the public and commercial sectors, and also serves international companies based both in Italy and abroad. Impacting on the industry is the firm’s multidisciplinary approach which offers peace of mind, as well as a single point of contact for companies and organisations across a number of legal aspects.
Antonino outlines the firm’s overall mission and describes what steps he plans to take in order for the firm to achieve this, before talking us through the initial conversation that the team have with clients, as they look to gain an understanding of their expectations and outcomes.
“FLA is a centre of excellence and acts as a professional services hub in our local area by providing key legal and associated business functions to the wide variety of small, medium and large commercial enterprises that make up our dynamic business environment. We offer a range of different service models ranging from on-demand needs, tactical point solutions and strategic corporate in-house legal services.
“When working on a new case or project, our initial approach is to assess our client’s needs in order to tailor a bespoke solution that focuses upon the history of the current issues and the immediate business requirements. Based on our initial analysis, we offer either tactical or strategic solutions depending on the particular issues being addressed. Over the years, since the start of FLA, our very varied and dynamic client base has shaped our service offerings and business model to the point where flexible innovation is an intrinsic part of how we approach each of our clients, both new and existing.”
Helping the company to stand out amongst its peers is the unlimited and unrivalled expertise amongst staff. Antonino is keen to comment on the training that staff go through to ensure the highest levels of optimism, as well as the ability of employees to keep on top of relevant trends within the sector.
“The wide breadth of our expertise across legal, financial, management and related disciplines touches upon all the aspects of the work environment from the legal to the financial, from the commercial to the personal. We subscribe to industry best practices to preclude conflicts of interest that may arise when clients contract for multiple services.
Providing us with a brief overview of the industry, Antonino talks us through the complex nature of the legal sector within Italy, as well as commenting on the fact that the firm’s international client base leads to an unparalleled expertise in certain continental deals.
“The provision of legal services in Italy is quite complex, as Italian law has a civil judicial tradition based on a core set of principles that are codified as a referable system that serves as the primary source of law. These principles are subject to fairly continuous updates and changes. Also, our role is to keep abreast in the dynamic context of our clients’ interests and needs. The international nature of our client base means that we also have considerable in-house expertise with the intra national agreements, as well as principles which are articulated by the OECD in relation to BEPS and double taxation.”
In order to stay ahead of any upcoming developments within the industry, Antonino points us towards the strict training programme that staff are under. The team monitor the relevant trends and movements, guaranteeing that they can keep up with regulations and answer any queries which customers may have.
“FLA believes that the basis for success in the modern legal industry is a rigorous training programme that provides continuous professional education and development. Our teams of specialists keep abreast of the latest updates, changes, techniques and technologies that help us to work smarter and more productively whilst ensuring that our efforts are correctly focused. For example, recent technical developments in predictive code are being tried in order to expedite e-discovery projects involving legal cases or internal company investigations.”
With the legal sector being a complex environment in which to operate within, the team at FLA must employ certain techniques which enable it to stay ahead of any emerging developments which are arising on a constant basis, particularly within Italy. “Regarding the internal culture within FLA, Antonino explains how the management team ensure that all staff are well equipped to provide an excellent service, mentioning that the team is diverse in nature, but all of them are well-qualified to provide a quality experience.
“At FLA, we encourage the creation of multidisciplinary teams, driven by the members themselves, and drive the free exchange of opinions and ideas across disciplines and hierarchies to gain new insights and viewpoints. Throughout the company, we reward our staff according to their merits, contributions and efforts rather than on the basis of gender or race. Our core policies assume the highest standards of professional and ethical conduct in our personnel and this applies to their dealings with both internal colleagues and external contacts and clients.”
Looking ahead, Antonino is clearly excited about what the future holds for FLA, and he foresees plenty of growth throughout the year. This, in turn will lead to more opportunities opening up for the firm to embrace, and more avenues to explore.
“Moving forward, we expect a growth in our business in 2018 and we have a number of projects in the pipeline, particularly in relation to
international opportunities. Also, we will continue to grow our current network of law firms with whom we cooperate and collaborate.”
In his concluding comments, Antonino predicts that the global corporate landscape will continue to evolve and develop in a multitude of ways, and he signs off by explaining what techniques the firm will use in order to adapt to these situations.
“Ultimately, the global corporate landscape of legal services is continuously evolving and, in such a demanding environment, we expect to expand and widen our recruitment efforts and attract more talent with international knowledge and expertise. The increasing globalisation of corporate interests will have a significant impact on the need for transnational and cross-borders services.”
Company: Floresta Longo e Associati
Contact: Professor Antonino Longo
Address: Via De Caro, 104 (Viale Ulisse), Catania, 95126, Italy
Phone: 0039 95 71 22 020
Website: www.fla.it/home/
