2012 has arrived...

GIAMBRONE LAW NEWSLETTERLATEST COMPANY NEWS - FOR COMPANY USE ONLY

Welcome to the Winter Edition of our Newsletter

WELCOME BACKWelcome back - We hope you all had the deserved rest, enjoyed the festivities and seasonal cheer.

While economic predictions for 2012 may mean that the UK, Italy and the eurozone slide back into recession, we should hopefully see improvements all around towards the later half of the year as London hosts the 2012 Olympics which should bring with it growth to the Public Sector.

Giambrone Law won’t let these tough economic times ahead dismay us from expansion as we welcome new members to our ever increasing firm and also have plenty of plans ahead for the growth of the firm in 2012.

ROME OFFICEHaving spent the last two years working in the London office, Iain Buchan will be moving to Rome in February. Rome, as the capital of Italy, is the ideal place for Giambrone Law to expand into and Iain will be there to develop the business and Giambrone Law brand in Rome.

Soon to follow in Iain’s footsteps will include trainee lawyer Dott. Edward Norton as he will locate from London to Rome in February.

TUNISIAGiorgio Bianco has recently joined Avv. Alessandra Bellanca and Dott. Alfredo Lo Cicero at the new Tunisia office to develop and build relationships for one of the most important countries for Italian commercial & trade business.

This decision has been made due the increase of requests coming from Italian companies interested to increase their business in north Africa.

Giorgio Bianco commented “At an exciting time in Giambrone Law’s history, I am supporting the legal firms services to a wider audience of clients in Tunisia, supporting the Italian and international communities as well as the Tunisian people dealing with Italian commercial and legal matters. A great human and professional experience.”

Avv. Gabriele Giambrone, Senior Partner of the firm said “We are contacted by numerous people from north Africa region. Being a 21st Century law firm we embrace an opportunity to channel our expertise to a wider audience.”

4, Rue de Russie1000 Tunis

Tunisia

T: +216 71 321 887E: tunisia@giambronelaw.com

Herbert Smith, Irwin Mitchell and Italian firm Giambrone Law are among a host of firms snapping up advisory roles following the grounding of cruise ship Costa Concordia off the Italian coast earlier this month.

It is understood that long-standing adviser Herbert Smith is advising Costa Cruises’ parent company, Carnival Corporation, over future bookings, with matters being handled by the firm’s Hong Kong-based insurance team.

Irwin Mitchell has been instructed by victims of the disaster, led by head of international travel litigation, Clive Garner. More

than 100 passengers have already joined a class action and are reportedly seeking to claim more than £100,000 each.

Immigration: 19Corporate: 4Italian Company: 2Family: 2Real Estate: 2Litigation: 8Tax/Finance: 2Criminal: 1Other: 6Wills/Probate: 3

COSTA CONCORDIA DISASTERGiambrone Law has been contacted and instructed by various passengers who were unfortunately caught up in the tragic events on board the Costa Concordia cruise ship earlier in January. The liner ran aground off the coast of the Italian island of Giglio after sailing too close to the shore.

From left to right; Alfredo Lo Cicero, Mariangela Restivo, Iain Buchan and Carol Topp

Immigration Corporate Italian Company Family Real Estate Litigation Tax/Finance Criminal Other Wills/Probate

Commenting on the disaster Garner said: “With thousands of passengers and crew on board this huge vessel, their safety should have been the first and only priority. Tragically, it seems that this was not the case and passengers and their families have paid a very heavy price.”

“Following formal notification of our clients’ claims to the cruise line we hope to engage them in early negotiations but if this proves unsuccessful, legal proceedings will follow.”

He added that the number of victims coming forward to claim compensation “might rise substantially in the coming weeks.”

Also understood to have landed advisory roles are Clyde & Co, Norton Rose and Ince & Co, with personal injury firm Proner & Proner involved in the class action in the US. Italian firm Giambrone Law has also been instructed by a number of victims affected by the disaster.

The Costa Concordia ran aground after the captain, Francesco Schettino, allegedly sailed too close to the shores of Giglio island, hitting rocks which tore a hole in the ship’s hull. The current death toll stands at 15, with 19 still unaccounted for.

According to business analysts the accident is expected to be the most costly marine loss on record with reports estimating the total insurance loss to fall between $600m and $800m (£385m to £514m).

Number of new enquries:

All staff can help Giambrone Law and the Costa Concordia disaster through the following;

Circulate Giambrone Law online articles and weblinks to your own Facebook, Twitter and social media sites. The more people know about what we are doing, the more enquiries we will recieve!

THE LAWYER has recently picked up on the recent activity and supported the firm in making a public mention of our support for victims of the disaster.

MARKETING DEPARTMENTDott.ssa Antonella Ingrassia has joined the Palermo Office working as Marketing Manager for the firm. Antonella will assist Antonio Furione and Karl Speller in the development and raising of thecompany profile.

SEO ACTIVITYSince September, Giambrone Law has been working with an SEO company called Search Engine Busters (SEB) who assist us with visibility on internet search engines. We have since seen a significant increase in searches for our phrase terms as we continue to dominate the first page of search engines for the following keywords:

Italian Lawyers, Italian Litigation, Italian Law Firm, Italian Corporate Lawyer, English

speaking Italian Lawyer, Italian Real Estate Lawyer, Italian Property Lawyer, Itaiian Mediation Lawyer, Italian Wills Service, Italian Divorce Lawyer, Italian Probate, Italian Inheritance Lawyer, Italian Avvocato, Italian Immigration Lawyer.

The increase in online activity has seen an increase of more than 50% traffic via online client enquries.

From left to right; Antonella Ingrassia, Karl Speller and Antonio Furione

EMPLOYEE ONLINE AREAAs part of our ongoing development with the website we have launched an online area for employees, this area will allow you to book your holiday, complete and absence forms as well as downloading company information and forms such as expenses forms, telephone directories and various HR forms.

You can view the area via the following link; https://mail.giambronelaw.co.uk/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.giambronelaw.com/go/secret.php and entering the following password; p455w0rd

Please note all holidays must now be booked using the online form, if you have pre booked any holiday for 2012 in 2011 please resubmit your request using the new form.

We have also included a news section on the site for internal communication date will be updated frequently with internal news, if you would like to add any information to the news area (Strictly for staff communication) please let Brendan Dine or the Marketing Department know so it can be uploaded.

Above; The new website, which isn’t online to the public, can be viewed at:http://www.giambronelaw.com/go/index.php

Please share your comments or further development ideas to the Marketing Department

NEW WEBSITEAntonio Furione has been working hard on a brand new website for the firm which exceeds our outdated current version.

New features of the website include separating the legal expertise of the firm into ‘individuals’ and ‘business’.

Within these two groups, there have become an expansion of the legal service pages as we try to adapt to a wider market base.

The website will hopefully be online to the public within the next month.

www.giambronelaw.com

For more information or about this edition, please contact:

Karl Speller, Public Relations Executive +44 (0)870 111 4802 karl.speller@giambronelaw.com

REMEMBER...Please send your written editorials and latest news to the Marketing Department for publication.

MOVERS & SHAKERSGiambrone Law would like to welcome the arrival of the following new members of staff:

Dott.ssa Antonella Ingrassia joins the Marketing Department for the Palermo office working as Marketing Manager. Dott. Edward Norton has recently joined the London office working as a Trainee Lawyer. Edward will soon be joining Operation Manager Iain Buchan in a relocation to the Rome office to assist with client enquiries. Dott.ssa Giedre Valiute has joined the Palermo office working as a Trainee Lawyer. Giedre will assist Avv. Alessandra Bellanca in the expansion of the Private Clients Department alongside new lawyer Avv. Giorgio Bianco. Souad Habibi has joined the firm working as Receptionist for the Private Clients Department. Helen Balster joins the London Office working as Administrations Assistant.

Iain Buchan has relocated from London to the Rome Office, continuing his role as Opperations Manager and Head of Client Services Department.

REVIEW OF THE PALERMO CHRISTMAS PARTYGiambrone Law celebrated six years of the firms success by hosting a Christmas party in Palermo on 19 December 2011.

The party was held at Acanto Wine Bar, Via Torrearsa and organised by Brendan Dine and Dott.ssa Antonella Ingrassia.

Above; Pictures from the Christmas Party in Palermofrom December 2011

NEW CLIENTS UPDATE...Giambrone Law has recently become the global lawyers for a large telecommunications company based in Sicily which is active for the whole of Italy.

From left to right; Dott.ssa Antonella Ingrassia, Dott. Edward Norton, Dott,ssa Giedre Valiute, Souad Habibi and Helen Balster