Terms of use

1. What this site is

studiolegaleballati.it is the website of Studio Legale Ballati, a law firm with offices at Via delle Mura Urbane, 30, 51100 Pistoia (PT). The firm's lawyers are members of the Pistoia Bar Association and bound by the Italian Code of Conduct for Lawyers; the information published constitutes professional information under Article 35 of that Code.

The site is free and open to everyone: it requires no registration, sells no goods or services and carries no advertising. By using it you accept the terms on this page.

2. The content is not legal advice

The practice-area pages, the articles, the case notes and the documents published are informational in purpose. They do not constitute legal advice, do not refer to specific cases and are no substitute for a lawyer's examination of your particular situation.

Reading the site, sending a request through the contact form or an email does not create any professional relationship with the firm. Such a relationship arises only when an engagement is conferred, in the forms required by law and by professional rules, after the firm has assessed the request and communicated its terms.

Articles show their publication date: they describe the legislation and case law of that time, which may have changed since. Before drawing conclusions for a current situation, the law in force must be checked.

3. Requests for advice

The firm offers consultations at its offices, by appointment, and an online advice service: opinions, formal notices, demands for payment and contracts at a distance. Requests are sent by email or through the contact form, describing the matter and attaching any documents; the firm replies with a quote and a timeframe, with no obligation for the requester.

• The firm is free to decline a request, in particular where there is a conflict of interest or the matter falls outside its expertise.
• Until the quote is accepted no fee is due and no deadline runs against the firm: anyone facing an imminent time limit should say so at once or contact a professional able to act within the time available.
• Ordinary email is not end-to-end encrypted: for particularly confidential documents it is advisable to agree a more secure delivery method with the firm.

4. Content and copyright

Texts, photographs, logo, graphics and the structure of the site belong to the firm or to their respective authors. The articles and case notes are the work of the lawyers who sign them.

• You may read, save and print the content for personal use and study.
• You may quote an excerpt or share an article, crediting the source, "Studio Legale Ballati", with a link to the page.
• Reproducing the texts in publications, websites, courses or products, even non-commercial ones, requires the firm's consent: just ask at [email protected].

The court decisions published as PDFs are acts of the judicial authority, reproduced for documentation purposes with the precautions required by data protection law; the commentaries accompanying them remain the work of their authors. Anyone who believes a document infringes their rights may request its removal (see section 8).

5. Publications

The book covers shown in the Publications section belong to the respective publishers and are reproduced solely for bibliographic presentation. The volumes are purchased from publishers and bookshops, not through this site.

6. Availability and limitation of liability

The firm endeavours to keep the site up to date and working, but cannot guarantee its continuity or freedom from errors: pages may be temporarily unavailable for maintenance or for reasons beyond the firm's control. To the extent permitted by law, the firm is not liable for damage arising from use of the site, from the inability to use it or from reliance on content which, by its nature, is informational only.

7. Links to other sites

Some pages link to third-party sites, including those of the Pistoia Bar Association, legal institutions, publishers and Google Maps. The firm does not run them and is not responsible for their content or for how they handle data: their own terms apply there.

8. Reports and removal of content

Anyone who believes that content on the site is inaccurate, infringes their rights or contains personal data that should not appear can write to [email protected], indicating the page. The firm examines the report and, where it is well founded, corrects or removes the content, normally within a few days.

9. Personal data and cookies

How the site processes users' personal data is described in the Privacy Policy; cookies in the Cookie Policy.

10. Governing law and jurisdiction

These terms are governed by Italian law. Disputes relating to use of the site fall within the jurisdiction of the courts of Pistoia, without prejudice to the mandatory consumer forum provided by law.

11. Changes to these terms

The firm may update them at any time. The version published on this page, with the date shown at the top, applies.