On September 24, Dean Matthew Diller and Assistant Dean Toni Jaeger-Fine welcomed 23 distinguished Italian attorneys to Fordham Law School in New York City to take part in Amerigo For Law 2018.
Amerigo For Law is a one-week, cooperative learning course in U.S. business law for Italian lawyers. Now in its second year, the initiative was launched under a joint cooperation agreement between Fordham Law and Amerigo Association, and enjoys the support of the American embassy in Rome.
Vito Cozzoli, the president of the Amerigo Association, and Rosa Giovanna Barresi, European chapter president of the Fordham Law Alumni Association, developed the concept of Amerigo For Law, which offers goodwill and a meeting of the minds between U.S. and Italian professionals.
At Fordham Law, lectures were offered on high-level international issues such as alternative dispute resolution, comparative privacy law, venture capital law, and cross-border merger and acquisitions. During informal discussions, participants compared approaches and shared personal experiences.
The Amerigo For Law 2018 team visited the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution, a think tank with twenty years of experience in dispute resolution. The New York session concluded with a cocktail reception at The National Arts Club hosted by Fordham Law.
The delegation then moved to Washington D.C. to take part in events organized in cooperation with the embassy of Italy and the College of Law of the American University.
Amerigo For Law 2018 participants were received at World Bank and International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, at the Office of Western European Affairs (U.S. Department of State), and at the Office of the Chief Counsel for International Commerce (U.S. Department of Commerce). The College of Law of American University offered lectures on commercial and investment arbitration.
Over dinner, Dr. Gianni Di Giovanni, head of Eni’s international relations team in Washington D.C. and chairman of ENI Petroleum, Inc and ENI USA R & M, proposed an analysis of internal political balances, specifically within the context of the upcoming U.S. midterm elections.
The program concluded with a formal dinner for the delegates hosted by the Italian ambassador to the United States, H.E. Armando Varricchio, at his home, Villa Firenze, in Washington, D.C.
The Italian professionals also attended several receptions, held at the law firms of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, Gianni, Origoni, Grippo, Cappelli & Partners, Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP, and Blank Rome LLP.
The great success of Amerigo For Law 2018, as with last year’s program, demonstrates the value of high-level professional exchanges in the ongoing dialogue between these two countries and in nurturing transatlantic relationships.