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Partner
Charles Bernardini concentrates on corporate and transactional matters, including mergers and acquisitions. He also assists clients in procurement and economic incentive negotiations with U.S. state and local governments. He served for 12 years in elected office in Chicago, on the Chicago City Council and the Cook County Board. In 2014, Italian President Giorgio Napolitano conferred upon him the title of Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.
I focus my practice on two primary areas, stemming from my experience in corporate law and as an elected official in local government in Chicago.
I’ve represented clients ranging from large multinationals to small- and medium–sized businesses and from Maestro Andrea Bocelli to the Italian Consulate of Chicago (pro bono), on a wide variety of matters related to doing business in the United States and Italy, including:
I regularly advise U.S. and foreign companies in their procurement activities with Chicago and its related entities. I’ve also represented clients in obtaining economic incentives from local and state governments in many U.S. cities, counties and states for their manufacturing or commercial investments.
Italian manufacturers who had production in the USA prior to 2008 came out of that crisis sooner and stronger, because the US market came out sooner and stronger. I expect the same thing to occur after COVID-19. It makes sense for Italian manufacturers to have production—or at least assembly and servicing—in the USA, to better serve and compete. To do so, Italian companies should understand the economic incentives offered by US state and local governments and the visa work rules for sending over Italians.
See Charles discuss his thoughts in further detail here. For a PDF from his presentation, click here.
Charles R. Bernardini was quoted in the Italian Digital newspaper, www.linkiesta.it. The article, titled "Stati Uniti, il ritorno al futuro dell’export italiano," discusses the future of Italian exports to the United States:
"Una conferma della tendenza a installarsi negli Usa non solo per semplici esportazioni arriva da Charles Bernardini, ex direttore della Camera di Commercio italiana del Midwest e avvocato d’affari dello studio Ungaretti & Harris di Chicago. Insieme con l’aumento di esportazioni dall’Italia, stiamo vedendo anche un tipo di export più sofisticato. Le aziende italiane che esportano stanno costituendo in Usa proprie filiali, sia per svolgere il ruolo di importatore e catturare quel guadagno, sia per vendere ai clienti americani prodotti realizzati dalla filiale, in modo da apparire come "società americana", immagine sempre più importante per molti clienti statunitensi.
Le aziende italiane che hanno successo in Usa, aggiunge Bernardini, «sono quelle che hanno investito tempo per visitare gli Usa, preparato un business plan, commissionato una ricerca di mercato a un professionista americano, impiegato tempo per trovare e selezionare il partner giusto americano."
To read the full article, click here.
Illinois
University of Illinois, B.S., Communications
University of Illinois College of Law, J.D.
Italian
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