{"id":6017,"date":"2026-09-04T09:20:46","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T07:20:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/?p=6017"},"modified":"2026-09-04T09:20:47","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T07:20:47","slug":"paolo-della-noce-today-corporate-criminal-lawyers-do-more-than-defend-they-prevent-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/?p=6017","title":{"rendered":"Paolo Della Noce: \u201cToday, Corporate Criminal Lawyers Do More Than Defend \u2014 They Prevent Risk\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In an increasingly complex regulatory environment, the role of the corporate criminal lawyer has undergone a profound transformation. No longer confined to courtroom defence, the profession now encompasses prevention, advisory services and risk management. Paolo Della Noce<\/strong>, founder of Milan-based law firm DN Legal, which specialises in corporate criminal law, discusses this evolution. Over the course of his career, he has been involved in several high-profile judicial proceedings, most recently the widely reported \u201cPandoro Gate\u201d case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Roberta Imbimbo<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Della Noce, how did your interest in corporate criminal law begin?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even before developing an interest in corporate criminal law, I was drawn to criminal proceedings themselves. Criminal trials are probably the only proceedings in our legal system that still preserve a genuinely adversarial dimension, where evidence emerges through the examination and challenge of the parties, the cross-examination of witnesses and final arguments before the court. It was an aspect of the profession that fascinated me from a very young age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, I was fortunate enough to meet Professor Guglielmo Gulotta, one of Italy\u2019s most distinguished scholars in legal and forensic psychology. He invited me to undertake my legal training at his firm. That marked the beginning of an extraordinary professional journey, which gave me the opportunity to work alongside outstanding practitioners and to explore a discipline that I still consider fundamental today: forensic psychology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paradoxically, it is not a compulsory subject at Italian law schools and, where it is taught, it is generally limited to a single elective course. Yet psychology and communication science should form an essential part of the professional knowledge of both lawyers and judges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understanding the mechanisms of the human mind means understanding how beliefs are formed, how events are perceived and how a narrative is constructed within judicial proceedings. One need only consider some of the most widely reported criminal cases, in which what initially appears self-evident does not necessarily remain so once the evidence is examined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is, in fact, a fundamental distinction between historical truth and judicial truth: the former concerns what actually happened, while the latter concerns what can be established in court on the basis of the evidence gathered and assessed. This is a subject that has always fascinated me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How, then, did you move into corporate criminal law?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over time, I came to realise that corporate criminal law presented an even more stimulating professional challenge. It requires highly specialised technical expertise and an in-depth understanding of corporate dynamics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also one distinguishing element that I consider crucial: compliance<\/em>. Corporate criminal law is not simply about intervening once a problem has already arisen. It also involves working proactively, analysing corporate processes, identifying areas of exposure and developing organisational models designed to prevent criminal offences from occurring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This means performing a dual role. On the one hand, there is the advisory and preventive function; on the other, the traditional defence role, when it becomes necessary to argue a case before the judicial authorities. These are different yet complementary approaches \u2014 two sides of the same coin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is precisely this comprehensive dimension that makes corporate criminal law particularly compelling. It requires constant interaction with professionals from other fields \u2014 from corporate and commercial law to business consultancy \u2014 and enables us to provide clients with more comprehensive legal protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You founded DN Legal in 2018. What was your original vision for the firm?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The establishment of DN Legal was the natural evolution of my professional career. At the age of 35, I decided to take on a significant challenge: opening a structured law firm in central Milan, with a team of associates and a clearly defined specialist identity. It was an ambitious decision and certainly not without risk, but I have never regretted it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How much has the role of the corporate criminal lawyer changed in recent years?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has changed radically. Until a few years ago, criminal lawyers were primarily called upon once proceedings had already begun. Today, companies seek legal support much earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reason is straightforward: an increasing number of corporate activities can potentially give rise to criminal liability. Businesses have therefore come to understand that prevention is far less costly than having to defend themselves subsequently in court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The clearest example is Italian Legislative Decree No. 231 of 2001<\/strong>. When it came into force, there were only fifteen predicate offences. Today, there are more than 270, to the point that proposals have been put forward to rationalise and streamline the current framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In just over twenty years, lawmakers have dramatically expanded the scope of corporate liability, making the continuous review of organisational models and internal control systems essential. This is why companies are increasingly turning to specialised professionals capable of assisting them in developing effective prevention and compliance systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How important is choosing the right professional in such a complex field?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is extremely important. The difficulty today is that entrepreneurs and executives cannot always easily assess a professional\u2019s actual level of experience or specialisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many of the most significant proceedings never make the headlines, and the Italian system continues to rely heavily on word of mouth, personal reputation and, in some cases, media visibility or affiliation with long-established law firms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I believe the legal profession would benefit from greater transparency in the way lawyers communicate their expertise. In other jurisdictions, such as the United States, professionals are able to provide the market with considerably more information about their experience, areas of specialisation and professional track record. In Italy, by contrast, professional conduct rules impose very strict limitations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naturally, safeguarding the dignity and integrity of the legal profession remains essential, but greater openness would enable clients to make more informed choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What do you see as the main challenge facing the legal profession in the future?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The profession is evolving extremely rapidly. The range of skills required continues to expand, the regulatory environment is becoming increasingly complex, and businesses are looking for advisers capable of supporting them in strategic decision-making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The real challenge will be to combine specialisation, prevention and transparency. Enormous progress has already been made on the first two fronts. As regards transparency, however, I believe there is still considerable work to be done to make the process of selecting the right professional clearer and more understandable for clients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the past twenty years, corporate criminal law has profoundly changed the way companies conduct business. Today, knowing the law is no longer enough: lawyers must be able to identify and assess risks before they develop into criminal offences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is where the true value of the modern corporate criminal lawyer lies. Not only in the courtroom, but also in boardrooms, corporate processes and the day-to-day decisions made by businesses. Because the best trial is often the one that never takes place.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In an increasingly complex regulatory environment, the role of the corporate criminal lawyer has undergone a profound transformation. No longer confined to courtroom defence, the profession now encompasses prevention, advisory services and risk management. Paolo Della Noce, founder of Milan-based law firm DN Legal, which specialises in corporate criminal law, discusses this evolution. Over the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":6018,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[216],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6017"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6017"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6017\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6019,"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6017\/revisions\/6019"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6018"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/britishdailynews.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}