As is widely known, European Union law has allowed Member States’ lawyers to fulfill their criminal defense roles before the courts of any EU country. International Lawyers Associates is the first Italian law firm that deals with criminal law at a European level, defending its clients in every EU country. We can proudly state that our law firm consists of professionals who speak Italian, English, French, and Portuguese indiscriminately, and have thorough knowledge of the national law of each member country of the European Union.
And that is not all: International Lawyers is fortunate to collaborate with more than 80 lawyers in major European cities, allowing for immediate and constant access to the local courts, as well as the ability to constantly visit the detainee wherever he or she may be.
The International Lawyers Associates’ assistance system provides for the formation of a defensive union formed by a lawyer at the Italian headquarters and one in the location of the client who has been arrested, thus maximizing the defendant and his family’s defenses and serenity, as the client often lives hundreds of kilometers from the place where he is detained.
Spain
The law firm has historically dealt with important trials with clients who have been accused in the various cities of Spain. In most cases trials with a higher European relevance relate to international drug offenses, criminal associations, international kidnapping of minors, etc. Our law firm has a significant presence in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, and Alicante. It is also present in the Malaga and Seville areas, as well as in Zaragoza, Santander, and Bilbao. The Spanish islands certainly deserve a special mention: the law firm has defended numerous clients there, mainly thanks to summer and juvenile episodes concerning illicit conduct in Ibiza, Palma de Mallorca, Formentera, and the Canary Islands, mainly in Tenerife. International Lawyers uses several process agents in these locations, going anywhere that a criminal case arises along with the lawyers quickly and responsibly, guaranteeing clients maximum assistance 365 days a year.
Portugal
A deep, intense collaboration has come about for defending clients in Portugal and Brazil; so much so that the trials in which the lawyers of International Lawyers Associates have been involved in have often been the focus of national and international press. The law firm works constantly in the cities of Lisbon, Porto, Braga, and Faro.
France and Belgium
International Lawyers Associates devotes great attention to defense and professional collaboration with several law firms from other countries. Dozens and dozens of drug and money laundering trials have taken place in the French cities that are located on the two major drug trafficking routes (originating in Amsterdam and Barcelona). The law firm is rooted in Paris, Lyon, Marseille, and Annecy. But it also constantly works in Bordeaux, Perpignan, Montpellier, Toulon, Toulouse (in Provence), and Lille. The law firm also deals with international affairs in the overseas regions, particularly in Guadeloupe and the French Antilles.
The law firm also operates in Brussels and Liège.
Germany
The presence of a large number of Italian emigrants, now in their second generation, has made the law firm’s activity constant throughout the German territory and on all German Landers. International Lawyers Associates has a fixed correspondence center in Berlin with its own process agent and regular partner, but given the vastness of the German territory, the law firm has built a network of professional collaborators that are active and present in Munich, Stuttgart, Hanover, Frankfurt, Dresden, Leipzig, Hamburg, and Bremen.
Particular attention is paid to issues relating to European arrest warrants and the rules of intra and extra judicial cooperation in Europe.
Scandinavian Countries
South American drug trafficking is particularly connected to the Netherlands as a platform for drug delivery and distribution, and Amsterdam is a well-known location for synthetic drugs and juvenile use. From the moment that lawyers could be mutually recognized among the EU member states, our lawyers have created strong defensive links and collaborations, participating in very delicate trials in both Amsterdam and Rotterdam, as well as The Hague, Utrecht, and Eindhoven.
The International Lawyers’ field of action then expanded to the capitals of Scandinavian countries, and that’s not all. The very high costs of defense in Scandinavia are determined by the law, which regulates defendant’s fees on a precise and hourly basis. Nevertheless, the high professionalism and seriousness of our Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, and Finnish colleagues have always allowed our international law firm to fully satisfy our clients’ needs. In Sweden, we operate in Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmo. In Denmark, we work in Copenhagen. In Norway, we are only present in Oslo and Fredrikstad, while in Finland we can operate in Helsinki, Tampere, and Kuopio.
The Middle-European area
Our international law firm dedicates particular attention and professional interest to the countries of Middle Europe, especially Austria, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. Our law firm has physical offices in these countries, and usually operates in Vienna, Graz, Salzburg, and Linz, as well as in Upper Tyrol in Innsbruck on Austrian territory. International Lawyers also has interpreters and translators to assist clients and their family, so that every professional detail can be fully implemented locally. The firm is also present and operates in the Czech Republic in the cities of Prague, Brno, and Ostrava, as well as in Znojmo. Our correspondents are always available in Bratislava as well as Kosice. In Hungary, International Lawyers has its headquarters in Budapest, which cover the entire Hungarian territory that is not too large and is currently protected by the new rules blocking non-EU immigration.
Poland and the Baltic States
The profound infiltration of Italian business in Poland and the Baltic region, and vice versa, the ramification of the mafia and organized crime of those regions into the European continent has resulted in the formation of numerous professional collaborations between International Lawyers Associates and several Polish colleagues as well as colleagues in the Republics of Lithuania, Estonia, and Latvia.
The extension of the Polish nation caused us to create a rather large network, with process agents in the cities of Warsaw, Krakow, Szczecin, and Lodz.
The presence of a true Russian enclave within the European Union’s continental territory (Kaliningrad territory) and free access to the non-visa-free area of the European Union has made the need for criminal defense particularly common in the nearby Polish and Lithuanian cities of Gdansk and Kaunas. Specifically, we operate in Vilnius and Klaipėda in Lithuania. In Latvia, however, we only operate in Riga, and in Tallinn in Estonia.
Romania
The phenomenon of bilateralism and the judicial cooperation between Italy and Romania and between Romania and other countries of the European Union is particularly intense. Our international law firm undeniably has one of its largest client bases in Romania. The trials that have taken place in the country, along with our collaboration with some of its best lawyers, has allowed us to reach excellent and very satisfactory professional results. We can help with a number of crimes: criminal association and cybercrime (especially in the Oradea area), laundering and narcotics traffic (with an important presence of process agents in the port city of Constanta), kidnapping of minors, corporate and fiscal offenses, European arrest warrants, etc. We practice, also through our on-site lawyers, in Bucharest, Timisoara, Constanta, Craiova, Satu Mare, and Iasi.
The law firm also provides assistance in Greece, Slovenia, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, even if the latter voluntarily left the European Union with Brexit.
The list of offices and domiciles above is exemplary, as International Lawyers Associates can provide its services in any Court of Justice, of any degree, in any European city.