Personal Injury Lawyer in Milan

The firm’s experience in criminal law has taught us how facts are established and how evidence is built: it is the same work needed to pursue a compensation claim in Italy after an accident, a medical error or an injury at work.

Every case starts from three questions, which must be kept separate:

1. Who is liable for the event: a driver and their insurer, a healthcare facility, an employer, often several parties together.
2. What consequences flow from the event: a diagnosis documents the injury, but the link with the facts must be proved, separating out what was already there.
3. What the damage is worth, under the statutory criteria and the applicable tables.

Obvious liability does not remove the need to prove the damage, and serious harm does not in itself prove that anyone was at fault. That is why we coordinate the work of medico-legal experts (medici legali), doctors in the medical fields involved, engineers and accident reconstruction experts.

The claim must also take into account reasonably foreseeable future consequences, such as care, treatment, aids and equipment, and loss of income: a settlement built only on the initial expenses risks leaving uncovered needs that emerge over time.

Where possible we prefer an agreed settlement, but we prepare every case as if it were going to court: it is the quality of the documentation that makes a claim credible, in negotiation too.

Documents to gather straight away

• emergency department reports, medical certificates, medical records and tests, including later ones;
• police reports, the joint accident report form, witnesses’ names, photographs of the place and the vehicles;
• receipts for medical, travel and care expenses, payslips and tax returns for lost income;
• every communication received from the insurer, the healthcare facility, the employer or INAIL.

For an initial review of your case you can contact the firm: if something is missing, we will tell you how to obtain it.

The first question for anyone looking for a medical negligence lawyer in Milan is usually whether a mistake was made. To answer it, we review the diagnosis, the treatment, how care was delivered and the clinical course with a medico-legal expert and a doctor in the relevant field: a complication or a poor outcome does not, in itself, prove a compensable error.

During the Covid-19 emergency, the firm’s founder, Avv. Marco Bianucci, handled proceedings concerning the liability of doctors and of healthcare and social-care facilities, including care homes (RSA), for the prevention of infection.

The healthcare facility and the individual doctor

Law no. 24 of 8 March 2017 (the Gelli-Bianco Law) distinguishes two forms of liability. The facility, public or private, is liable under the rules of contract (arts. 1218 and 1228 of the Civil Code, c.c.), including for the conduct of the doctors it relies on; the doctor is liable in tort (art. 2043 c.c.), unless they entered into an obligation directly with the patient.

The distinction affects the burden of proof and the limitation period: ten years against the facility, generally five against the doctor. The patient must prove, including by inference, the causal link between the treatment and the harm; the facility must then prove that the outcome was due to a cause not attributable to it.

The mandatory attempt at conciliation

Before a claim can be brought, art. 8 requires, as a condition for proceeding, either a preliminary expert assessment aimed at settling the dispute (consulenza tecnica preventiva, art. 696-bis of the Code of Civil Procedure, c.p.c.), often called “ATP”, or mediation. The experts appointed by the court, a medico-legal expert and one or more doctors experienced in the relevant field (art. 15), examine the case and attempt conciliation; insurers must also take part.

If no agreement is reached, or the procedure is not completed within six months, proceedings may be brought within ninety days while preserving the effects of the original application. We take part with our own consultants and, where the conditions are met, consider the direct action against the insurer provided for by art. 12.

We act for people seriously injured in road accidents and for the families of victims, including where proceedings are brought for serious or very serious road traffic injuries or for road homicide (omicidio stradale, arts. 590-bis and 589-bis of the Criminal Code, c.p.). Anyone instructing a lawyer after a road accident in Milan, or elsewhere in Italy, should know that the choices made in the first months shape the entire claim.

Which insurer to claim against

• Direct compensation (risarcimento diretto, art. 149 of the Private Insurance Code): you claim from your own insurer only in a collision between two identified and insured vehicles, for damage to the vehicles and for injuries to the driver not at fault up to 9 points of permanent impairment. It does not apply to injuries above 9 points, to vehicles registered abroad or to passengers.
• Serious injuries to the driver, pedestrians and cyclists: the claim is made to the insurer of the vehicle at fault (arts. 144 and 148).
• Passengers: a passenger claims from the insurer of the vehicle they were travelling in, regardless of which driver was at fault, save for a fortuitous event (caso fortuito, art. 141).
• Unidentified or uninsured vehicle, and other cases provided for by law: Consap’s Road Victims Guarantee Fund steps in. The insurer designated for the region where the accident occurred investigates and settles the claim, which must be sent both to that insurer and to Consap (arts. 283 et seq.).

For personal injury, the insurer must make a reasoned offer, or explain why it is not making one, within ninety days of a complete claim, which includes the medical certificate of recovery, with or without permanent after-effects (art. 148). Before going to court, an invitation to assisted negotiation between lawyers (negoziazione assistita) is mandatory; where permitted, a complaint to the Insurance Ombudsman (Arbitro Assicurativo) can replace it (art. 3 of Decree-Law 132/2014).

Contributory negligence and policy limits

In a collision between vehicles, the law presumes, until proven otherwise, that the drivers were equally at fault; towards a pedestrian, the driver must prove that they did everything possible to avoid the harm (art. 2054 c.c.). Any share of fault attributed to the injured person reduces the compensation (art. 1227 c.c.): we verify the conditions for this through technical reconstruction. In serious cases we also check whether the policy limit is sufficient, especially where more than one person has been injured.

In many cases, compensation for an accident at work does not end with the benefits paid by INAIL (the Italian workers’ compensation authority). We act for seriously injured workers and for the families of people killed at work, including in criminal proceedings.

INAIL compensates the harm according to its own rules (Presidential Decree 1124/1965 and Legislative Decree 38/2000): for permanent biological damage (danno biologico), with a lump sum for after-effects from 6 to 15 per cent and with an annuity from 16 per cent, which includes a component for the effects on earning capacity.

Differential and complementary damage

If the accident is attributable to the fault of the employer or of third parties, it is possible to claim:

• differential damage (danno differenziale), meaning the part of the damage, calculated on civil-law criteria, that exceeds what INAIL has paid for the same loss (art. 10 of Presidential Decree 1124/1965). According to the Court of Cassation, Italy’s Supreme Court, the comparison is made head by head: INAIL sums for biological damage are deducted from biological damage, not from the total;
• complementary damage (danni complementari), which the social insurance scheme does not cover at all, such as moral suffering, temporary incapacity in its biological aspect, after-effects below the compensated threshold and the family members’ own losses: these are governed by the ordinary rules of civil law.

Establishing liability

The employer must adopt the measures necessary to protect workers’ physical integrity (art. 2087 c.c.) and comply with Legislative Decree no. 81 of 9 April 2008: risk assessment, training, protective equipment, machinery maintenance. On construction sites and in contracted work, we examine how the obligations are shared among the client commissioning the work, contractors and subcontractors; a worker’s mistake must be assessed in the light of the precautions and instructions they should have received.

If the accident is caused by a third party, for example in a road accident on the way to or from work, the claim is also directed at the person responsible and their insurer, taking into account INAIL’s right to recover what it has paid.

The death or very serious injury of a person also causes harm to their family. The law distinguishes two bases of claim, which must be assessed separately.

The family members’ own losses (iure proprio)

The first is damage for loss of the family relationship (danno da perdita del rapporto parentale): the suffering and upheaval of life that follow the death of a close relative. The same harm, as serious impairment of the relationship, may be recognised where the victim survives with a severe disability.

Compensation is neither automatic nor the same for everyone: what counts is the age of the victim and of the relative, whether they lived together, the presence of other close relatives and the quality of the relationship. The courts require points-based tables, such as those drawn up by the Milan Civil Justice Observatory (Osservatorio sulla giustizia civile di Milano). Law no. 76 of 20 May 2016 grants an unmarried cohabiting partner (convivente di fatto), on the death of their partner, the same criteria as apply to a spouse.

In addition there is financial loss (danno patrimoniale): the loss of the financial support that the victim provided, or would reasonably have provided, to the family, funeral and medical expenses, and the cost of caring for a relative left disabled.

Losses suffered by the victim (iure hereditatis)

As heirs, family members may also claim the losses the victim suffered before death: biological damage, if the victim survived for an appreciable time, and the suffering linked to awareness of impending death. According to the Joint Sections (Sezioni Unite) of the Court of Cassation (judgment no. 15350/2015), however, the loss of life in itself does not give rise to a claim that passes to the heirs.

A standardised claim rarely reflects what has been lost: that is why we gather the evidence that describes the family’s history. Where compensation is intertwined with the division of the estate, we coordinate the work with our inheritance practice.

Compensation must cover the consequences actually suffered and proved, without duplication: the same consequence cannot be claimed twice under different names. For the Court of Cassation, non-pecuniary damage (danno non patrimoniale) is a single category, within which, however, distinct aspects must be described and documented.

Non-pecuniary damage

• Biological damage (danno biologico): the impairment of physical and mental integrity that a medico-legal expert can assess, whether temporary (the period of illness) or permanent (the after-effects). It includes the ordinary effects on daily activities and is due even to people without an income, such as a child or a retired person.
• Moral suffering (sofferenza morale): the pain, fear and anguish that the injury causes in a person’s inner life. It is a harm distinct from the effects on daily life and relationships, and must be assessed separately.
• Effects on daily life and relationships (aspetti dinamico-relazionali): what a person has had to give up and the changes in their social life. Ordinary effects are already included in the value of biological damage; specific, documented effects justify an individual adjustment of the award (personalizzazione). The expression “existential damage” (danno esistenziale) does not denote a separate head of damage to be added to the others.

Financial loss

• Expenses (danno emergente): treatment, rehabilitation, care, aids and equipment, adaptation of the home and car, transport.
• Lost income (lucro cessante): earnings lost during the illness and future earnings.
• Capacity to work: a reduced ability to do one’s own job, where it affects income, is a financial loss; a general reduction in working capacity usually falls within biological damage. A percentage of impairment does not automatically translate into an identical loss of income.

In cases involving significant injuries, the medico-legal report is the foundation of the claim. The medico-legal expert reviews the records, examines the person and assesses the causal link between the event and the injuries, the duration of temporary incapacity, the permanent after-effects and the needs for treatment and care, distinguishing the harm caused by the event from any pre-existing condition.

Where the case requires it, we add doctors from the medical fields involved: a head injury, a spinal cord injury or a surgical error raise different questions.

Forensic experts and engineers

A dispute may turn on how the events unfolded even before the extent of the harm. In a road accident, what counts are the measurements taken at the scene, photographs, vehicle deformation, marks on the road surface, visibility, video footage and electronic data that can lawfully be obtained; in an accident at work, the machinery, protective equipment, maintenance and the organisation of the work.

We act early to preserve evidence: a repaired vehicle, an altered site or a deleted recording make the investigation more difficult. Our consultants’ conclusions must be verifiable and must address alternative explanations, so that they stand up against the insurer’s doctors and the experts appointed by the court.

The tables give reliable results only when applied to correct data and to a complete picture of the damage. The applicable criterion depends on the nature of the event, the date on which it occurred and the extent of the after-effects.

• Injuries of 10 to 100 points caused by road traffic or by healthcare liability: for events occurring on or after 5 March 2025, the National Single Table (Tabella unica nazionale, TUN) of values per point of impairment, approved by Presidential Decree no. 12 of 13 January 2025, applies directly (art. 138 of the Private Insurance Code; art. 7 of Law 24/2017). The TUN has one table for biological damage only and one that increases it for moral damage, with minimum, average and maximum values; the court may increase the amount by up to 30 per cent if the injury significantly affects personal aspects of daily life and relationships that are documented and objectively established.
• Earlier events and injuries from other causes: on a question raised by the Court of Milan (Tribunale di Milano), the Court of Cassation (judgment no. 8630 of 7 April 2026) held that the TUN is the preferred benchmark for assessing biological damage from serious injuries (macrolesioni) also for events before 5 March 2025 and for those unrelated to road traffic and healthcare, such as an accident at work. The court may depart from it, for example by applying the Milan tables, only by giving reasons based on wholly exceptional circumstances.
• Injuries up to 9 points from road traffic and healthcare liability: the criteria of art. 139 of the Private Insurance Code apply.

For future financial consequences we examine the duration, frequency and cost of the needs and, where necessary, the capitalisation criteria: an annual cost of care that will continue over time requires a different assessment from an expense already incurred.

Many events that cause serious harm are also crimes: negligent personal injury, road homicide, death or injury caused by medical negligence or by breaches of workplace safety rules. In these cases the firm’s experience in criminal law allows us to act from the investigation stage, assisting the victim (persona offesa) and, where necessary, filing a criminal report or complaint (denuncia or querela).

Some examinations can be carried out only once: autopsies, tests on vehicles or machinery, analysis of samples that will deteriorate. When the public prosecutor orders a non-repeatable technical examination, the victim must be notified and may appoint their own expert (art. 360 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, c.p.p.). Taking part at that moment may matter more, for the future compensation claim, than any later reconstruction.

Civil party or civil action

The injured party may join the criminal proceedings as a civil party (parte civile) and claim restitution and damages there (art. 74 c.p.p.). On conviction, the court may award an interim payment (provvisionale), immediately enforceable, within the limits of the damage already proved (arts. 539 and 540 c.p.p.). Alternatively, a claim can be brought before the civil courts: the two routes have different rules, timescales and effects (art. 75 c.p.p.), and the choice depends on the available evidence, the parties to be involved and the insurance cover.

Compensation does not always require waiting for a final criminal judgment: if the evidence is sufficient, negotiations can proceed while the investigation continues. We cover these topics in more detail on our page on criminal law and the protection of crime victims.

The insurer also assesses the claim in the light of its own financial interest, and disagreements often concern liability, after-effects, contributory negligence and future consequences. We do not take the first offer as a measure of the claim’s value: we challenge reductions with no technical or legal basis and check policy limits, excesses and exclusions, which cannot always be relied on against the injured party.

Where useful, we request interim payments, making clear what is being paid and which claims remain open. Before anything is signed, we review the settlement receipt (quietanza) with the client: if its wording contains a waiver or a settlement agreement, a payment accepted “in full and final settlement” may close any further claim arising from that event.

Complaints to the insurer and to IVASS

In the event of delays or inadequate replies, we consider a documented complaint to the insurer, which must respond within forty-five days; if there is no reply, or the reply is unsatisfactory, the matter can be referred to IVASS (the insurance supervisory authority). IVASS supervises the insurer’s conduct, but does not decide who caused the accident or how much the injured party is owed. The Insurance Arbitrator (Arbitro Assicurativo), in operation since 15 January 2026, examines claims by injured third parties only up to a very limited value: for serious personal injury it is not, as a rule, the appropriate forum.

When to go to court

We consider litigation when liability is denied without adequate grounds or offers remain insufficient, after the mandatory procedures required in each area. Meanwhile, negotiations must not become an open-ended wait: we monitor the limitation period and interrupt it with appropriate formal steps, because a criminal complaint or an informal exchange of messages is not, as a rule, enough.

We have acted for the families of victims of mafia murders in criminal proceedings and in applications for public support measures, including after a refusal.

The Rotation Fund for victims of mafia-type crimes

Law no. 512 of 22 December 1999 allows victims of mafia-type crimes, subject to the statutory conditions, to obtain from the Rotation Fund (Fondo di rotazione) the sums awarded to them by the judgment convicting the offender. We examine the judgment, any interim award and costs granted, whether the offence falls within the qualifying crimes, the eligibility of the victim and family members, and any sums already received.

The application is filed with the Prefecture (Prefettura); the Solidarity Committee at the Ministry of the Interior decides, and Consap handles the payments. Against a refusal we consider a request for review and legal action, keeping the time limits in view. According to the Court of Cassation, anyone who meets the requirements holds a full legal right (diritto soggettivo), over which the administration has no discretion: protection is sought, as a rule, from the ordinary courts and not from the regional administrative court (TAR).

Victims of terrorism

For victims of terrorism and eligible family members, we examine the measures under Laws no. 302/1990, no. 407/1998 and no. 206/2004: one-off payments, allowances, and pension and healthcare benefits. They have different beneficiaries, requirements and procedures from those of the anti-mafia Fund and are not equivalent to full compensation for the harm: we work out how benefits, other sums received and claims against those responsible relate to one another.