Professional Experience

Ms. Francesca Giannoni-Crystal is a dually-qualified U.S. and Italian attorney.

In her vicennial career she has provided assistance to a wide range of clients (industrial, commercial and technological companies, banks & financial institutions, law firms) both domestically and internationally.

Her practice has focused on transactional work and contractual issues (commercial law, banking law, Internet law, business law, international transactions, mergers and acquisitions, constitution and reorganization of companies, financing, and property development). She is also a “lawyer for lawyers”, assisting law firms in bridging activities Civil Law-Common law, and supporting other lawyers in international litigation (including international privileges), issues of cross border ethics, and international transactions.

After serving as a legal consultant for the Italian Industrial Association and as attorney for Deloitte Legal for several years, Ms. Giannoni-Crystal opened her own practice, where she regularly assisted major companies and international groups. She was on general retainer with the legal office of a major Italian listed company operating in the Internet and mobile value-added services, with direct responsibility for legal issues of the foreign companies of the group (located in the US, UK, Spain, China, Brazil, Argentina); there she was involved in establishing branches and offices all over the world and in drafting and negotiating international commercial agreements. She also dealt with privacy issues and T&C for the group. In team with local lawyers, she assisted Italian companies in business formations and operations in several European countries (Spain, Germany, France, Czech Republic, Portugal, UK), in Asia (Mainland China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia), Australia, US, and Latin America (Brazil, Argentina). In 2011, she co-founded, together with Nathan M. Crystal, Crystal & Giannoni-Crystal, LLC.

She is co-responsible for the website Technethics (www.technethics.com), a database, blogging and training platform in fields of ethics&technology and privacy.

Admissions

She is admitted as an attorney in the state of New York and the District of Columbia, as an avvocato in Italy, and as a foreign legal consultant (not a member of SC Bar) in South Carolina

She is admitted to the United States District and Bankruptcy Courts for the District of Columbia.

Education

Ms. Giannoni-Crystal holds two Juris Doctor degrees: one from the University of Florence (Italy) , where she graduated with maximum grades (110/110) and one from the Charleston School of Law (United States), where she graduated cum laude. She also obtained an LLM in Air and Space Law from the University of Mississippi School of Law.

Publications

-Francesca Giannoni-Crystal, Cyberattacks on Lunar Satellites (and Other Non-Earth Orbiting Satellites) – Legal Issues, 57 Creighton L. Rev., 663 (2024), https://cdr.creighton.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/d76937d0-dbc0-432e-b738-c4ae1c509e14/content.

-Francesca Giannoni-Crystal, Asset-Based Financing For Space Activities, 89 J. Air L. & Com. 33 (2024), available at https://scholar.smu.edu/jalc/vol89/iss1/3/

-Giannoni-Crystal, Francesca, Jurisdictional Choice For Space Resource Utilization Projects: Current Space Resource Utilization Laws, 22 Santa Clara J. Int’l L. 1 (2024), available at: https://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/scujil/vol22/iss2/1

-Francesca Giannoni-Crystal, Legal Issues for Lunar Orbiting Satellites and Suggested Solutions, 47 J. Space L. 67 (2023). Full volume here: https://airandspacelaw.olemiss.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/JSL-47.1.pdf

– Nathan M. Crystal & Francesca Giannoni-Crystal, Choice of Law and Risk Management for Conflicts of Interest, Charleston Law Review, Vol. 16, Issue 1 (Winter 2022), pp. 1-44.

– Francesca Giannoni-Crystal & Nathan M. Crystal, Choice of Law in Lawyers’ Engagement Agreements, 121 Penn St. L. Rev. 683 (2017).

– Francesca Giannoni-Crystal & Allyson Haynes Stuart, The Internet-of-Things (#IoT) (or Internet of Everything), privacy and data protection issues in the EU and the US, Information Law Journal, Spring 2016, volume 7 issue 2, available at http://apps.americanbar.org/dch/committee.cfm?com=ST230002
– Nathan M. Crystal & Francesca Giannoni-Crystal, Preserving the Attorney-Client Privilege and Protecting Work Product as In-House Counsel, South Carolina Lawyer 12 (January 2016).
– Nathan M. Crystal & Francesca Giannoni-Crystal, Using Occam’s Razor to Solve International Attorney-Client Privilege Choice of Law Issues: An Old Solution to a New Problem, North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation, 41 N.C. J. Int’l L. 276 (2016), http://www.law.unc.edu/journals/ncilj/issues/volume41/issue-2-winter-2016/–using-occams-razor-to-solve-international-attorneyclient-privilege-choice-of-law-issues-an-old-solution-to-a-new-problem/
– Nathan M. Crystal & Francesca Giannoni-Crystal, Something’s got to give: breve comparazione tra l’approccio americano ed europeo al cloud computing, soluzioni pratiche (in Italian), Cultura e Diritti, n.4/2014, October- December 2014, p. 27
– Nathan M. Crystal & Francesca Giannoni-Crystal, Reconciling US and EU approaches to cloud contracts, 22 PL&B International, October 2014, Issue 131, www.privacylaws.com
– Nathan M. Crystal & Francesca Giannoni-Crystal, “Something’s got to give” – Cloud Computing, as applied to lawyers – comparative approach US and EU and practical proposals to overcome differences, together with – Nathan M. Crystal, Opinio Juris in Comparatione Vol.I, n.I, 2014 (available at http://www.opiniojurisincomparatione.org/)
– Nathan M. Crystal & Francesca Giannoni-Crystal, “One, No One and One Hundred Thousand” … Which Ethical Rule to Apply? Conflict of Ethical Rules in International Arbitration, 32 Miss. C.L. Rev. 283 (2013)
– Nathan M. Crystal & Francesca Giannoni-Crystal, Deterrents to Forum Selection Clause Challenges, International Litigation Quarterly; Spring2013, Vol. 29 Issue 1, p21-26, available at http://apps.americanbar.org/abanet/common/login/securedarea.cfm?areaType=premium&role=lt&url=/litigation/mo/premium-lt/articles/international/spring2013-0620-rule-11-as-deterrent-to-forum-selection-challenges.html
– Do the Right Thing (for your duty of competency): Some Ethical and Practical Thoughts on “Notarization” in International Transactions, together with Nathan M. Crystal, Global Jurist. Volume 12, Issue 2, Pages –, ISSN (Online) 1934-2640, DOI: 10.1515/1934-2640.1412, December 2012, available at http://www.degruyter.com/view/j/gj.2012.12.issue-2/1934-2640.1412/1934-2640.1412.xml
– Enforceability of Forum Selection Clause: A “Gallant Knight” Still Seeking Eldorado, together with Nathan M. Crystal, 8 S.C. J. Int’l. L. & Bus 203.
– The EU Court’s Decision Akzo Nobel is Not a Big, Bad Wolf, South Carolina Lawyer, 17 (January 2012)
– Understanding Akzo Nobel: A Comparison of the Status of In-House Counsel, the Scope of the Attorney-Client Privilege, and Discovery in the U.S. and Europe, (2011) together with Nathan M. Crystal, Global Jurist: Vol. 11: Iss. 1 (Topics), Article 1, available at: http://www.bepress.com/gj/vol11/iss1/art1
– Contract Enforceability During Economic Crisis: Legal Principles and Drafting Solutions, (2010) together with Nathan M. Crystal Global Jurist: Vol. 10: Iss. 3 (Advances), Article 3, available at: http://www.bepress.com/gj/vol10/iss3/art3
– Comment to decision 624/2008 of Florence Court, Il Foro Toscano, 2/2008.

Languages

Professional Affiliations

American Bar Association
International Section of American Bar Association
Business Law Section of American Bar Association (Professional Responsibility Committee)
Ordine degli Avvocati di Firenze
New York State Bar Association
International Section of New York State Bar Association (NYSBA)
New York City Bar Association
District of Columbia Bar
The Bar Association of the District of Columbia
Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia (WBADC)
Charleston County Bar Association
She is the former Vice Chair of the International Law Committee of the South Carolina Bar and she serves as vice chair and Policy officer of the International Ethics Committee of the ABA Section of International Law. She serves in the Committee On Standards of Attorney Conduct COSAC of the NYSBA.

Ms. Giannoni-Crystal served in the subcommittee of the SC International Law Committee responsible for making recommendations for limited admission to practice of foreign lawyers which the SC Bar House of Delegates approved and submitted to the SC Supreme Court. She also served in the subcommittee of COSAC responsible for the drafting of a report on a proposed rule on temporary practice of law and in-house counsel in New York. The report was first approved by the whole Committee and then by NYSBA House of Delegates on November 2015.

Ms. Giannoni-Crystal served for 2012-2013 bar year as Vice-Chair and publications officer of Europe Committee (ABA’s Section of International Law.) She also served in the Committee on Foreign & Comparative Law of the New York City Bar Association.