About us

Law firm specialized in franchising in Italy

Who we are

Pandolfini Law Firm was founded in 1996 by Avv. Valerio Pandolfini as a high quality, boutique law firm to service the specialized needs of national and international franchise clients.

Over the years, we have represented hundreds of franchise clients, including public and private franchisors, franchisees, Master Franchisees, area developers, franchise brokers.

We are specialized for over twenty years in legal advice and legal training in franchising. Our extensive experience in franchise and business law make us the leaders in the Italian legal arena for franchisors.

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We have long standing experience and expertise in providing advice to franchisors for all legal aspects related to the start-up, management and development of their franchise, in Italy and abroad. We also have established experience in providing legal training and education on all relevant franchising legal issues.

We have worked with franchisors of all sizes in a wide range of retail and service industries, including food & beverage, real estate, retail, educational services, senior care services, cosmetics, fashion accessories, hotels and hospitality providers, and many others.

Our mission

Pandolfini Law firm was founded on the principles of dedication, expertise and providing client- focused and superior legal services. Because we have taken the time to concentrate our practice on franchise and business law, our clients benefit from a wealth of focused experience, training and practical knowledge that is tailored to each client’s needs.
We help franchisors to quickly and properly solve all their legal problems connected with their activity. In order to meet such goal, our approach to our Clients is:

  • highly professional and specialized, given our consolidated experience in the field;
  • sensitive to operational and practical implications of our Clients’ businesses, in line with their structure and organization;
  • sensitive to our Clients’ real needs and budgets, given the flexibility of our fees.

We pride ourselves on the personal attention that we provide to our Clients. Our clients have diverse legal needs and we tailor the services we offer to meet their needs.

Our goal is to build long-term relationships with our clients and help them as they grow their systems.

Our method

We make use of innovative technologies, in order to provide our Clients with fast and efficient responses. As a result of the Internet and other technological advances, we are able to efficiently and effectively work with clients all over the world.

Our advice is aimed at ensuring stability of the franchisors’ business strategies. Particular attention is paid to the prevention and minimization of risks and disputes, through the supervision of the business sector and company specifications and careful planning of regulatory and contractual aspects. Where disputes do arise, we promote the various forms of ADR, such as mediation and arbitration, to avoid the complexity and length of ordinary legal proceedings in Italy.

Thanks to consolidated relationships with external professionals having expertise in various franchising areas (marketing, finance, tax), we are able to provide our Clients with a real multidisciplinary advice in the franchising context. We have a unique extensive network of franchising experts.

Avv. Valerio Pandolfini

Founder of the Pandolfini Law Firm, Valerio Pandolfini is an internationally recognized franchising and business lawyer. He is member of the Italian Bar Association and of Assofranchising, the main franchising association in Italy. He is also representative of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Dubai (EAU).
Mr. Pandolfini is specialized since 1993 in the area of franchising and business law. He advises franchisors and master franchisees throughout the world in structuring, drafting and negotiating international franchise agreements. In his professional practice, Mr. Pandolfini has been working with franchisor clients in domestic and international franchise transactional matters, as well as related areas such as distribution and sales representative arrangements, and other commercial contracts. He has advised, structured, and prepared franchise programs for many different franchise concepts in many different areas, including real estate, hotels, food&beverage, fitness and personal health.

He started his legal career working in large law firms in Milan, such as Gianni, Origoni, Grippo & Partners and Deloitte, before deciding to set up this boutique law firm. He has been teaching for many years in the area of international business law for public and private universities, such as the New York University and the European School of Economics. He has been serving for many years as a mediator, arbitrator and expert witness in many franchise cases. He is salso author of many books and articles on franchising and business law.

With life lessons learned from assisting franchise networks over several decades, Mr. Pandolfini is able to provide his clients with unique insights and perspectives on the Italian franchise market.

To download Avv. Valerio Pandolfini curriculum vitae, please click here.