Franco Zambelli

Franco Zambelli is one of the firm’s founding partners and practices from both the Venice and Treviso offices. Franco advises a wide variety of Italian and multinational corporations, as well as public authorities and individuals on all aspects of administrative and public law and policy. He also acts as the primary litigation contact and practice coordinator supervisor for major clients of the firm.

His main areas of specialisation are administrative, environmental, public accountancy and real estate law. Franco focuses on planning, commercial licensing, public works, services and supply tenders, and works and services grants, specifically regarding tender’s procedures and documentation arrangement. He has considerable experience dealing with environmental assessments and other regulatory approvals in a variety of sectors, including renewable and non-renewable electricity generation, electricity transmission, mining, transit and transportation, aggregate quarries, and waste management.

He has extensive experience in project finance across a wide range of sectors, and in particular, the healthcare and the public transport sectors.

He has gained wide experience in litigation before the courts and arbitration panels in civil, administrative and public accountancy, criminal (where he has a vast experience in the defence of corporate entities for criminal liability resulting from crimes committed by their members) and constitutional matters.

Franco Zambelli graduated from the University of Padua and trained under Professor Feliciano Benvenuti. He was called to the Italian Bar in 1972 and he has been admitted to practice before the Italian Supreme Court (Corte di Cassazione) since 1987. He has contributed articles to several books, law reviews and industry journals and is a regular speaker at practitioners’ conferences, symposia, workshops and courses.

Franco is the past Chair of the Association of Administrative Lawyers of the Veneto Region and is the secretary of the Italian Union of Administrative Lawyers. Throughout is career Franco served on the board of a number of public and private organizations (amongst others, Committee for Provincial Control of Venice, Venice Airport and an oil refinery company which is now part of the ENI Group).