Public Contracts

Studio Legale Lessona assists contracting authorities and bidders in procedures for the award of public works, services and supply contracts governed by the Italian Public Contracts Code (Legislative Decree 36/2023), both in an advisory capacity and in litigation before the Regional Administrative Courts (TAR) and the Council of State (Consiglio di Stato).

Advice during the tender phase

• drafting and review of tender documents for contracting authorities
• assistance to bidders in taking part in tenders: qualification requirements, reliance on third-party capacity (avvalimento), consortia and joint ventures, subcontracting
• clarification requests (soccorso istruttorio), verification of requirements and abnormally low bids
• access to tender documents and competitors’ bids

Litigation

• challenges to exclusion and award decisions
• challenges to clauses of tender notices and specifications
• defence of contracting authorities and counter-parties
• interim relief and compliance proceedings (giudizio di ottemperanza)

Time limits and procedure

Public procurement disputes follow the special fast-track procedure set out in Articles 119 and 120 of the Italian Code of Administrative Procedure: as a rule, the appeal must be served within thirty days of notification of the decision or of the tender documents being made available, and the proceedings are shortened. It is therefore advisable to submit the documents to the firm as early as possible.

Further reading

An overview of the firm’s practice is available on the Administrative Law page. Case notes on recent judgments, many concerning proceedings handled by the firm, are published in Italian in the News section.

The firm receives clients by appointment at its offices in Florence, Via dei Rondinelli 2, Rome, Corso Vittorio Emanuele II 18, and Olbia, Via Genova 55. For an initial enquiry, please write to posta@studiolessona.it or use the Contact page.