David Maria Santoro

Partner

T. +39 06 809154.1

ROME

Via Vincenzo Bellini, 24
00198 – ROME

David Maria Santoro is since 2015 partner at De Berti Jacchia Franchini Forlani and was previously Head of Disputes Resolution Department at Simmons&Simmons LLP in Rome.

David Maria has been practising for more than twenty years in the area of Litigation and Arbitration both domestic and trans-national, including ADR, and built up a wide experience in corporate, civil, commercial and insolvency-related controversies.

Furthermore, David Maria is frequently involved in analysis, evaluation and defense of manufacturers summoned in complicated cases of product liability, mainly in the area of pharmaceuticals but even in those involving automotive, chemicals, food and beverage.

He usually assists clients that are pivotal in primary industry sectors, such as pharmaceuticals (EU companies part of a global group having headquarters in UK); energy (the main Italian provider); real estate (leading Italian group); car-safety systems (leading US-based group); chemicals (Italian subsidiary of a US group acting worldwide); aviation-related services (French, UK, Italian and Albanian entities).

He is member of AIA, Italian Association for Arbitration and of AIDA, Italian Food Law Association.

Assisting on a regular basis the EU branches of a global pharma producer, which are summoned, as local manufacturers or as Marketing Authorization Holders, in litigation cases pending in Italy, both in First Instance and in Appeal, in ADR and preliminary evidentiary procedures, focused on compensation for adverse reactions to drugs and vaccines, either mandatory or recommended by World Health Organization.

Practices

Product Liability and Safety
Arbitration and ADR

Industries

Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences

Cooperating on regular basis with experts from Forensic Institute of the University of Verona in analysis of quite complex issues pertaining to allegations of pharmaceutical products’ liability, with specific focus on potential causation link and related damages.

Practices

Product Liability and Safety

Industries

Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences

Successfully assisted the owner of an active principle used for a far widely known antibiotic drug, having been summoned as guarantor in a quite delicate litigation about a serious adverse reaction whose risk was mentioned in antibiotic drug’s leaflet. After First Instance and Appeal, the case went to the Supreme Court, which granted the owner’s defenses by means of highly innovative decision.

Practices

Product Liability and Safety

Industries

Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences

Assisted successfully the Italian branch of global pharma manufacturer in a number of quite delicate litigation cases, where claimants alleged that the warnings inserted in the Italian leaflet of a well-known anti-Parkinson-Syndrome drug, having been already criticized in EU, were inadequate and incomplete.

Practices

Product Liability and Safety

Industries

Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences

Successfully assisted the manufacturer of a children vaccine, having been summoned in a case filed by primary consumers’ association to obtain that vaccine’s Marketing Authorization is revoked and a number of acts implementing National Vaccination Plan are declared unlawful.

Practices

Product Liability and Safety

Industries

Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences

See more track records

Assisting successfully the prime Italian energy provider in litigation cases involving (i) traders, agents and other commercial partners, (ii) energy supply contracts with industries and entities massively consuming energy. For same client, is actually advising in a far high value litigation case vs. Italian Republic, about reimbursement of reductions on energy price having been granted to Italian radio-tv companies in years between mid-80s and mid-2000s.

Practices

Litigation

Industries

Energy and Environment

Assisted successfully a primary US chemical industry having been involved in a complex litigation originated by a merger deal in Italy and focused on alleged violation of industrial secrets, unfair competition and customers poaching; furthermore, resolved positively all claims having been filed by sales agents of the merged company in Courts, to obtain agency termination indemnities and compensation of damages.

Practices

Litigation
Intellectual Property

Industries

Chemicals

Assisted successfully primary Italian real estate company either in negotiations for transfer of buildings or in litigation cases having been originated by Sale and Purchase agreements or involving ancillary issues, such as claims about variable part of the sale price, hidden defects and liabilities, release of properties from mortgages and other encumbrances.

Practices

M&A
Litigation

Industries

Real Estate and Retail

Assisted successfully global oil companies having been summoned in various litigation cases in Italy, about (i) alleged defects of fuel, (ii) gas stations and other sale points (iii) calculation and payment of air fuel extra-charges (iv) claw back of payments made by Alitalia before its bankruptcy.

Practices

Litigation
Product Liability and Safety
Insolvency and Restructuring

Industries

Energy and Environment

Assisting successfully a foreign company in charge for management of a big international airport based outside the EU in a litigation case vs. the actual owner of the air carrier Alitalia, to assess and apportion liabilities within bad company – good company division plan, pursuant to restructuring program of Alitalia s.p.a., declared bankrupt in 2008.

Industries
Pharmaceuticals and Life Sciences
Consumer Goods
Chemicals
Energy and Environment
Real Estate and Retail

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATION

Admitted to the Supreme Court

Admitted to the Italian Bar

education

Rome, Degree in Law, La Sapienza University

languages

Italian, English, French

Office

Rome