2022 will be a turning point for civil justice: we are moving towards the launch of the reform of the process and the implementation of the new code of business crisis. Great attention will then be paid to alternative dispute resolution tools, which are growing thanks to government incentives and an increasing awareness of their efficiency, especially in international disputes. This is explained by Marzia Scura, owner of Studio Legale Scura, a boutique specialized in litigation.

What are the main regulatory changes that emerged during 2021 in litigation?

Dealing with civil-commercial litigation, the gaze can only go to the reform of the process, definitively endorsed with the publication in the Official Gazette no. 292 of 9 December 2021 of Law 26 November 2021, n. 206 containing "Delegation to the Government for the efficiency of the civil process and for the revision of the discipline of alternative dispute resolution tools and urgent measures for rationalization of procedures regarding the rights of persons and of families as well as in matters of enforcement". Since last Christmas Eve, the year by which the Government will have to implement the delegated law began to run, in compliance with principles and guiding criteria, however, stringent and already well defined. Without prejudice to the government's room for manoeuvre, we already know that profoundly different procedural dynamics await us, to which we must begin to get used to, at least mentally, as of now, to get ready for the actual "launch". In May 2022, moreover, after the many postponements due to the pandemic, the new code of business crisis is expected to enter into force.

What are the development prospects for 2022 in relation to litigation?

Also in light of the looming reform of the civil process, I believe that for "litigators" it will be important to have an eye for the so-called ADR (Alternative dispute resolution) tools: mediation, assisted negotiation and arbitration. While the process remains a central tool, one cannot fail to recognize the level of development achieved, with ups and downs, by these alternative measures, which have now become part of the necessary baggage of those who work in the litigation sector. Without considering, with particular reference to arbitration (especially the administered one), that for international disputes it is an instrument already widely preferred to the trial before the Judge, precisely because of its characteristics of speed, efficiency and specialization and for the excellent organization of the arbitration chambers (do not accuse me of parochialism if I affirm that the Arbitration Chamber of Milan, which over the years has carved out its own indisputable and objective niche of credibility at the national international level, also for having been able to accept the challenges related to the dissemination of the arbitration tool resulting from the rapid development of international trade, represents a real flagship for our country). The use of ADR tools has now received further incentives (also of a fiscal nature) from Law 206/2021 and I believe it is an invitation from the Legislator not to be let fall on deaf ears.

What are the future developments of your studio and the news that you feel to anticipate for 2022?

Since I started the studio, in 2019, I have focused on technology, constant updating and collaborations with studios and professionals of excellence. I plan to continue with the same strategy, which is giving excellent results and, especially in terms of quality collaborations, sees me already involved for 2022 as co-author of a prestigious volume of banking law, a subject on which I have already had the opportunity to write in the past. Following the lines of development I mentioned before, I aim to intensify the activity of the firm, now purely forensic, in the field of arbitration, a tool that has always fascinated me and that I think will play an increasingly central role in the despute resolution, even "domestic", of a commercial nature.