Nick is a partner of Studio Legale Metta and heads the International Department, assisting non-Italian clients with matters concerning Italian law.

He focuses his international practice on Real Estate, Tax, Estate planning, Inheritance and Succession, immigration and citizenship matters.

Nick’s passion for real estate started with his first purchase of a property in Bari, when he had turned 22. The international appeal came to him shortly thereafter when he had the opportunity to spend long periods of time abroad, thanks initially to student exchange programs and then business opportunities.

After he finished Law School in 1997, Nick trained in Milan and Rome at two major international tax and law firms as well as in the Italian Tax Police headquarters (Guardia di Finanza) as a Financial Police Officer. With the experience gained in these esteemed organizations, Nick was ready to build his own practice and in 2004 he founded the International Department of his family’s historic law firm.

Nick continued to invest in his legal education, earning a PhD in tax law. He also kept investing in real estate, in Italy and in the United States, married an American woman and had three children.

Nick applied his legal knowledge and professional skills to address in his personal life international matters of dual citizenship, dual residence, real estate transactions, remote property and lease management, estate planning, mortgage process, immigration etc.  Nick is also a U.S. Notary Public since 2011 and the Bari Delegate for the Chamber of International Lawyers since 2022.

In his practice he enjoys sharing his experience, insights and concrete tips with his clients in a broad range of Italian property purchases and sales. Nick uses his international tax knowledge to assist clients, both private and corporate, in their nationwide real estate transactions regarding new constructions, off-plan, rural or urban properties, individually or through corporate vehicles. Additionally, Nick advises on visa, immigration and citizenship matters, estate planning for non-Italian residents as well as with matters of both domestic and foreign wills for non-Italians and dual citizens. His corporate work includes Company Incorporation, Agency Agreements and Debt Recovery.

Additionally, Nick is a frequent presenter and an author about the subjects above, invited by various organizations in Italy and overseas.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

Nick qualified as an Italian lawyer (avvocato) in 2000, as a U.S. Notary Public in 2011 and he was admitted to discuss cases at Italian Supreme Court level in 2017. Prior to joining SLM, Nick was part of an elite team of officers within the Italian Tax Police (Guardia di Finanza) with the role to review new legislation and express opinions for the Government about tax compliance enforcement. Afterwards, Nick worked as a lawyer at the Italian legal and tax firm of Alderighi & Associati during its merger with Ernst & Young (Rome). He then joined the Rome office of the American law firm Baker & McKenzie in the area of Tax and Revenue, Commercial, and Real Etate Law, handling both Italian and international casework.

Nick has also been the Vice President of the Association for the Irish-Italian Chamber of Commerce which he helped found in 2008. From 2009 to 2011 he served on the board of directors of Confapi Bari, the non-profit association of small and medium businesses, where he advised on business internationalization and international tourism. Since 2011 he has been an associate member of the Bucks County Bar Association, Pennsylvania (USA). He is a regular speaker and guest lecturer on tax and international legal matters.

Nick received his Ph.D. in Tax Law in 2009 from the Università degli Studi di Bari (University of Bari). In 1998 he completed a post-graduate course in Italian and International Corporate Tax Law at the Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi (Università Bocconi) in Milan. Nick received his Italian law degree in 1997 from the Università degli Studi di Bari.

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS

• Boston, MA, USA – 9 April 2026, lecturer on Italian immigration, Italian citizenship and cross-border estate and tax planning at the “Patrimoni senza confini” seminar organized by COMITES at the Italian Consulate General in Boston
• Toronto, Canada – 20 January 2026, lecturer on Italian immigration, Italian citizenship and cross-border tax planning at the “Unlock Italy” event organized by ReMax
• Pisa, Italy – 6 November 2025, lecturer on international real estate and cross-border successions at the Elements and Applications of International Real Estate Law seminar by the University of Pisa
• Los Angeles, CA, USA – 15 May 2025, lecturer on Italian Immigration and cross-border Tax and Estate Planning within the Moving to Italy event organized by Relocate World
• San Francisco, CA, USA – 13 May 2025, lecturer on Italian Immigration and cross-border Tax and Estate Planning within the Moving to Italy event organized by Relocate World
• New York, NY, USA – 20 March 2025, lecturer on Italian Immigration and cross-border Tax and Estate Planning to the New York Law School within the Moving to Italy event organized by Liberty Atlantics Advisors
• Bari, Italy – 15 March 2024, moderator at the legal conference on “International successions: elements of law and practical applications”, at the Council Hall of the Bari Bar Association organized with the Chamber of International Lawyers
• Philadelphia, PA, USA – 10 October 2018, seminar on “Writing a Will for an Italian House” to the Filitalia History of Italian Immigration Museum
• Matera, Italy – 23 March 2017, Lecturer on key aspects of Cross-Border Succession rules to the Matera Bar Association (by Camera Civile and Matera Bar Association)
• Milan, Italy – 24 November 2016, Lecturer on the importance of having a Will for Estate Planning and International Successions purposes, to the Patrimonia Summit by ForFinance
• Rome, Italy – 8 November 2016, Lecturer on Estate Planning and International Successions to the Patrimonia Summit by ForFinance
• Bari, Italy – April 2016, Lecturer on key aspects of Cross-Border Succession rules to the Bari Bar Association (by AIGA and Camera Civile associations)
• Doylestown, PA, USA – November 2013. Lecturer on EU – US Cross Border Succession rules to the Bucks County Bar Association
• Umbria and Tuscany, Italy – September 2013. Lecturer on Italian Wills and Cross-Border Inheritance at “Le tour de Finance”
• Bari (Conversano), Italy – March 2013. Lecturer on Cross-Border Inheritance
• London, UK – Italian Cultural Institute – June 2012, Lecturer on Inheritance Law for Italian Property Owners
• Università LUM Jean Monnet – Casamassima, Italy June 2010. Guest Lecturer on International Contracts for MIGEM Master program
• Cescot Puglia (Confesercenti) Bari, Italy December 2010. Guest Lecturer on Legal Requirements for Safety in the Workplace
• PMI Formazione Puglia A.P.S., Fasano, Italy June 2009. Guest Lecturer on Legal Requirements for New Energy Managers
• CONFAPI meeting with Austrian Consul of Commerce, Bari, Italy 25 June 2010. Guest Speaker on Italian and Austrian development opportunities
• TechnologyBiz Festival, Naples, Italy 28 October 2010. Guest Speaker on Legal Requirements for Small Business Networks

PUBLICATIONS

• “European-American Succession Plan: How To Adopt the European Succession Law for U.S. Assets“, The Writs Oct. 2013, Bucks County Bar Association, Pennsylvania, USA
• “Italian Contract Deadline: Domani!”, The Italian Magazine online 3 Oct. 2013
• “Italian Financial Crisis 2012: Essential Estate Planning for Italian Real Estate Investors“, The Italian Magazine Online, 10 February 2012
• “Good News For Italian Property Owners, You Don’t Need an Italian Will” The Italian Magazine online 21 February 2011
• “Permanent Establishment”, European Legal Development Bulletin, n. 1, 2004, Baker & McKenzie
• “Buona Fede del dipendente circa gli adempimenti fiscali del suo datore di lavoro”, nota a Comm. trib. prov. Macerata, Sez. III, Sent. 22/10/2002, n. 123, in Giurisprudenza Tributaria n. 2, 2003, pag. 192, IPSOA
• “The Legislation of Assets Illegally Held Abroad”, European Legal Development Bulletin, n. 1, 2002, Baker & McKenzie
• “La Tonnage Tax”, Il fisco, n. 41, fasc. 1, 2002, pag. 15371, ETI – De Agostini Professionale S.p.A.
• “Aliquota IVA al 10% nell’edilizia e negli appalti”, Appalti & Fisco, n. 1, 2001, Casa Editrice la fiaccola S.r.l., Milano

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