8Point Law has achieved a significant milestone by being ranked as a Leading Firm in the prestigious Family/Matrimonial: High Net Worth Guide by Chambers and Partners. This ranking underscores the firm’s growing reputation and expertise in handling complex and often cross-border family and matrimonial cases, particularly those involving high net worth individuals and cross-border cases.
Chambers and Partners is renowned globally for its rigorous research and ranking methodology, which evaluates law firms and lawyers based on their legal prowess, client service, and professional conduct. 8Point Law’s ranking in such a distinguished guide is particularly noteworthy. It demonstrates the firm’s ability to offer personalised services that cater to the unique needs of HNWI.
For 8Point Law, this recognition highlights its commitment to providing top-tier legal services and solidifies its status as a leading firm in the Maltese legal landscape. The firm prides itself in offering bespoke legal solutions tailored to the intricate needs of its clients.
8Point Law notes with satisfaction that its efforts to achieve a high ranking by The Legal 500 Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) 2021 guide, have met with success. The firm’s performance was distinguished in four legal fields, that is to say; Aviation, Dispute Resolution, Private Client, and Real Estate.
Law firms classified by The Legal 500 are solely decided upon from facts extracted from evidence at their disposal. The Legal 500 bases its ratings system on analysis of available and pertinent facts which are known to it.
As the firm’s senior advocate, Dr John Bonello was highly praised within the Dispute Resolution area, being the firm’s largest sector, as having “always delivered stellar results even in the most complex of matters.”
Dr Bonello’s reputation in the firm’s Private Client domain has been regarded as “[v]ery updated about the legal practice, internationally oriented, very efficient in dealing with complex international situations.”
Clients have testified to 8Point Law associates as being “natural-problem solvers” and they respond to “any queries in a timely manner in a concise way without any vagueness.”
The Legal 500 has described 8Point Law as striving to guarantee “commercially focused legal advice of the highest quality” enabling clients to arrive at their final objective everytime.
The Legal 500 Series is a well renowned legal referral guide. It is impartial and judges the performance of law firms and rates their achievements in different spheres. Their analysis of law firms comprises the effectiveness of those firms in over 150 jurisdictions all over the world.
8Point Law rankings are available on https://www.legal500.com/firms/15043-8pointlaw/20315-valletta-malta/#section-109664
This year, the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) hosted its Introduction to European Family Law ‘Virtual Kyiv’ Webinar on Friday 19th March 2021. Dr John Bonello and 8Point Law’s newest team member Dr Nicola Carbonaro attended on behalf of 8Point Law. Dr Bonello was also invited to form part of the panel of speakers from all over Europe.
The virtual webinar delved into great detail about the challenges for family lawyers of different generations by touching upon digital modes of communication and social media as its opening topic. Lawyers from this panel discussed how the rapidly evolving digital era in which we live in is having a challenging effect for family lawyers. The panel then shifted onto how a child is given a voice from the perspectives of different jurisdictions. The transparency of the judicial decision process, wherein the topic of private court versus private judgements was explored. Dr Bonello discussed his professional views from a Maltese angle and additionally presented a paper outlining how the Maltese legal system caters for such a scenario, by citing recent Court judgements.
The webinar went on to discuss how the critical element of maintenance is applied in the jurisdictions of Czech Republic, Ukraine, Ireland, and England. Finally, the webinar was concluded with discussions on divorce and financial splits. This panel of lawyers was led by Mr William Healing from Alexiou Fisher Philipps LLP, whom Dr Bonello has had the pleasure of working with in the past.
This virtual webinar was both a learning opportunity as well as an invaluable experience for 8Point Law as it allowed the firm to expand its knowledge on several European Family Law jurisdictions.
The Legal 500 Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA) 2020 guide has been launched and 8Point Law is proud to announce that it has been recommended in four practice areas, namely: Aviation, Dispute Resolution, Private Clients, Real Estate
John Bonello is listed as a recommended lawyer within The Legal 500 EMEA 2020 text commentary. The Legal 500 rankings are based on the results of its research and the merits of the available evidence. Law firms are ranked on merit alone.
Dr Bonello said: “This is great news for our firm. The Legal 500 series once again gives due recognition to our status and quality of work. I take this opportunity to thank my colleagues and business partners for their efforts and hard work throughout the year, as well as our clients in Malta and abroad for placing their trust in us.”
Feedback on 8Pointlaw’s practice is given from various clients of the law firm within the recommendation page of The Legal 500 guide for 2020. Some of the most notable quotations are the following:
“The team offers a depth of advice that is difficult to find in what is an emerging jurisdiction for divorce and family law.”
“Dr John Bonello is exceptional. He is professional, approachable, to the point and understands the customers’ needs. He is very efficient and knowledgeable. He does his research and is excellent in court.”
“Leaders, knowledge, punctuality, approachable, available, research, exceptional standard of ethics, argumentative, updated.”
“John Bonello is an impressive individual. He has considerable experience of international family law and is able to provide detailed legal advice of Maltese law as well as strategic advice on the jurisdiction.”
“Full availability 24/24, 7/7 very appreciated, especially in family law-related situations.”
The full results of 8Point Law are available on: https://www.legal500.com/firms/15043/20315
The Legal 500 Series is widely acknowledged as the world’s largest legal referral guide. More than 300,000 corporate counsel are surveyed and interviewed globally each year. The Legal 500 is an independent guide, in which law firms, sets and individuals are recommended purely on merit. The Legal 500 Series’ analysis of law firm capabilities extends over 125 jurisdictions worldwide.
The Investment Migration Council (IMC) is the worldwide association for investment migration and citizenship-by-investment, bringing together the leading stakeholders in the field and giving the industry a voice.
Dr John Bonello of 8Point Law has been admitted as Member of the IMC. He now has an active role in interacting with other professional associations, governments and international organisations in relation to investment migration.
The IMC sets standards on a global level. Expressing satisfation upon accepting his new role, Dr Bonello said that he looks forward to work on improving public understanding of the issues faced by clients in the area of investment migration.
During the Academy of European Law’s annual conference on European Family Law held last September, Dr John Bonello and Dr Marthese Grech were present in 8Point Law’s name.
The conference aimed at keeping practitioners up-to-date by providing an overview of the recent case law and the latest developments at international and EU level in the area of family law.
Amongst the subjects discussed in depth were recent CJEU case law on family law, the recast Brussels IIa Regulation, new EU Public Documents Regulation and new EU Regulations on matrimonial and partnership property law, the impact of EU Regulations on family law on persons domiciled in third states, and the effects of Brexit on binational partnerships and international families.
Dr Bonello and Dr Grech look forward to sharing the insights gained and applying them to the best interests of 8Point Law’s portfolio of clients.
Dr Marycien Vassallo and Dr John Bonello attended the Investment Migration Forum (IMF) held in Geneva, Switzerland between the 3rd and the 6th June 2019.
Organised by the Investment Migration Council, the IMF is the world’s largest residence and citizenship by investment event in the world. Renowned academics, government officials and representatives of international organisations, as well as the world’s leading professionals dealing with investment migration gather every year to share experiences on the investment migration industry.
Dr John Bonello attended the European Chapter Meeting 2019 of the International Academy of Family Lawyers (IAFL) which was held in Palma de Mallorca, Spain from Wednesday 11th till Sunday 15th September 2019.
The Education Programme took place in Palau de Congressos in Palma and featured sessions addressed by several high-profile speakers and family law practitioners. Prof. Dr Ian Sumner of Leiden University delivered a thorough presentation on the EU Matrimonial Regulations which came into force earlier this year while renowned US practitioners Nicholas Ward Lobenthal and John M. Teitler, Teitler & Teitler LLP of New York gave an in-depth presentation on the concept of asset in matrimonial cases.
The Malta Individual Investor Programme Agency (MIIPA) has approved Dr John Bonello of 8Point Law as Approved Agent for Malta’s citizenship-by-investment programme.
The global mobility of HNWI and UHNWI is on the rise and a growing number is looking at investment migration in order to broaden horizons and expand business interests. Malta has ventured into this market driven by the prospect that it can enrich its human capital and attract market leaders who can provide added value by sharing their business acumen.
Maltese authorities conduct what has been termed as the ‘gold-standard’ of due diligence processes in the industry. The MIIPA goes to a serious level of detail on each application, knowing that the success of the programme rests on its robustness and high regulatory standard.
Potential applicants for the Malta Individual Investor Programme must make use of the services of Approved Agents. This is now one of the services meticulously offered by 8Point Law.
The Annual Due Diligence Conference organised by the Malta Individual Investor Programme Agency (MIIPA) took place on the 11th June 2019. The conference touched upon various aspects of the Due Diligence Exercise, starting off on the differences between artificial intelligence tools and human expertise, the pros and cons of both, as well as the vitality of of understanding risks and the limitations of artificial intelligence due to complexitity of the investigative process.
The conference also delved into the action being taken globally to fight financial crime, evasion of sanctions and hiding of illicit funds, the 5th Anti Money Laundering Directive and WEF and Europol’s affect on mitigating the worldwide problem. Attendees were given a brief insight on how local banks perform their due diligence exercises, particularly in the context of IIP clients.
8Point Law is an Approved Agent for the Malta Indivisual Investor Programme.
Dr Marthese Grech of 8Point Law has gained valuable insight after having attended a conference organized by the Academy of European Law (ERA) addressing practical issues when planning cross-border successions.
In Trier, Germany, Dr Grech attended seminars on recent case law after nearly four years of the coming into force of the EU Succession Regulation.
International experts at the conference highlighted the crossover between the EU Succession Regulation and the new regime on matrimonial property for international couples, applicable since January 2019.
Dr Grech gained acumen on subjects such as digital inheritance when drafting last wills, habitual residence and the power of attorney, European Certificate of succession, inheritance tax and various issues related to cross-border estate and probate.
Gaining such knowledge is an integral part of 8Point Law’s philosophy, believing strongly in knowledge as the key most ingredient in order to represent clients effectively.
This IAFL Introduction to International Family Law conference took place in Milan, Italy on Thursday 21st and Friday 22nd March 2019. This event was aimed at young family law practitioners and was attended by 160 delegates from over 20 European jurisdictions as well as a number from further afield.
Delegates were hosted for a Reception by The Milan Bar Association at Milan’s courthouse, the famous Palazzo di Giustizia.