8pointlaw > Valletta, Malta > Firm Profile

8pointlaw Offices

8pointlaw
19/9 VINCENTI BUILDINGS
STRAIT STREET
VALLETTA VLT1432
Malta
Visit website 356 2122 7237 356 2122 6533

8pointlaw > The Legal 500 Rankings

Malta > Dispute resolution Tier 3

At 8pointlaw, John Bonello is the key practitioner to note. He is highly regarded for his expertise in handling commercial disputes, and is well versed in advising on contentious matters involving real estate, family, succession and inheritance law.

Practice head(s):

John Bonello

Key clients

INDIS Malta Ltd.

Enemalta plc

Housing Authority

D.D.E. Attard Limited

Cammast Properties Limited

Jufina Juno Finanz AG

Bonavia Brothers Limited

Mirachem (Marketing) Limited

Work highlights

  • Represented Jufina JUNO Finanz in a dispute over enforcement proceedings of Austrian judgments awarded against Maltese-registered gaming companies, on the grounds that the judgments breach Maltese public policy.
  • Acting for a client in ongoing constitutional proceedings following a wrongful imprisonment.
  • Acted for INDIS Malta Ltd. in a lawsuit against a major player in the aviation industry, involving a €3M claim.

Malta > Private client Tier 3

At 8pointlaw, the 'very knowledgeable' John Bonello has an excellent reputation for advising on cross-border disputes involving succession and inheritance law, trusts, estate planning and immigration matters.

Practice head(s):

John Bonello

Testimonials

‘I have worked with John Bonello, who is very knowledgeable about all aspects of Maltese law. He has a pragmatic approach.’

 

Work highlights

  • Assisted an Italian family with succession claims concerning real estate in Malta valued at €12m.
  • Assisted a Canadian businessman, who had recently relocated to Malta, with estate planning.

Malta > Real estate Tier 3

John Bonello is the key contact at 8pointlaw, which is recognised for its strength in advising on a range of non-contentious and contentious real estate matters. Key areas of instruction include contractual matters, divisions of property, lease agreements and emphyteutical contracts.

Practice head(s):

John Bonello

Key clients

INDIS Malta Ltd. (previously Malta Industrial Parks Limited)

Malta Enterprise

MLR Imports Limited

Malta Life Sciences Centre

AR Properties Limited

Cammast Properties Limited

Housing Authority

Work highlights

  • Assisted INDIS Malta with contractual matters concerning the upgrade of the STMicroelectronics Facility in Malta.

8pointlaw > Firm Profile

The firm: 8Point Law is an accomplished multi-disciplinary law firm, with an acutely developed knowledge of corporate, commercial and civil law within the Mediterranean region and beyond. The firm prides itself in delivering a tailor-made service to meet each of its client’s needs, servicing any matter any given client may have.

The firm’s offices, located in Malta’s capital city, Valletta, are a stone’s throw away from the local law courts, making it very convenient for clients to access, and hold meetings in the heart of Malta’s business, culture and heritage. While retaining its traditional set-up, the firm has grown into a strong practice in various fields of law.

As a boutique partnership, 8Point Law focuses on providing a personal touch to all clients’ needs, and is renowned for having an approach towards providing flexible services that put clients first at all times.

8Point Law is committed to providing high-quality, professional services within reasonable time-frames that are designed to meet client’s ever-evolving legal and business requirements. The firm’s client base includes local and foreign individuals and companies, and its aim is offering a cost-effective and specialised service every step of the way.

As a result, 8Point Law’s portfolio is extensive, encompassing a range of clients that includes individuals, corporate set-ups, highly respected global organisations, public agencies, embassies, as well as businesses and individuals with very unique requirements.

Areas of practice: 8Point Law’s specialisation is to serve the needs of high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals as well as their families and businesses. In particular, the firm focuses on the relocation of expats in Malta – assisting them and their families in all legal matters including family law, wealth management as well as the lease and acquisition of real estate. 8Point Law provides a range of services relating to citizenship and residency, including Investment Migration, Citizenship by Investment (CBI), access to Schengen, and visa free travel. The firm’s concierge service team manages and facilitate on a one-to-one basis every aspect of an individual’s or family’s relocation including bespoke property search, removals and shipping, home set up, schools sourcing and ongoing concierge.

A focal point of the practice lies in real estate and property law, having assisted many long-standing clients with complex property transactions, both locally and abroad. The firm provides services in all matters relating to property, ranging from leases, both residential and commercial, and the sale and purchase of property.

The firm’s strengths lie in all matters relating to civil law, litigation, and dispute resolution, wherein it assists clients from start to finish with any matter they may have at hand. 8Point Law has had a long standing in the Maltese law courts on a vast array of complex issues, involving both personal and corporate clients, coming from the local and international sphere.

The firm also excels in matters of family law, namely separations, divorce, and issues relating to the care and custody of minors, both local and cross-border, and patrimonial issues relating thereto.

Succession law and inheritance is another forte of the firm, when such services are valued at a highly sensitive time. In today’s cosmopolitan world, succession matters are often international and complex, and 8Point Law’s professional team offers guidance and advice on the simplest solution to the client’s issues.

The team also offers comprehensive legal advice in relation to all aspects of Maltese company law that include: company formation/redomiciliation; corporate structuring and general transactions; mergers; acquisitions; division and reorganisations.

The firm’s legal consultancy expertise extends to the marine, yachting and the aviation sphere. In particular, 8Point Law has tendered advice to international organisations which represent, lead and serve the aviation industry in general.

The firm guarantees a multi-disciplinary service to all corporate clients and strives to provide a one-stop service to them. In order to achieve this, it provides professional services in areas and sectors that are contingent upon a business concern. This includes employment and industrial relations wherein the firm provides advisory services and assists clients in industrial litigation including employment disputes.

At 8Point Law, the team works directly with clients to assess the most appropriate course of action. The firm gives a thorough and clear assessment of the current position and the various options available, as well as a recommendation of the best way forward. 8Point Law strives to provide truly commercially focused legal advice of the highest quality, which, in turn, ensures that clients reach their goals every step of the way. Essentially, the firm seeks to conform in all respects with clients’ legitimate instructions while ensuring a value-added professional service to each of them.

Main Contacts

Department Name Email Telephone
Dr John Bonello jbonello@8pointlaw.com
Dr Marycien Vassallo mvassallo@8pointlaw.com
Dr Elian Scicluna escicluna@8pointlaw.com

Staff Figures

Number of lawyers : 7

Languages

English
French
Italian

Memberships

Malta Chamber of Advocates
The Legal 500
IR GLOBAL

International Capabilities


International Practices

8Point Law provides a wide range of legal services to international clients and continuously provides legal advice to clients who are based, or who have or want to have business interests across the globe. The firm has worked with a diverse range of issues for international clients, including:

  • Assistance and counsel on competition law matters to global aviation players;
  • Assistance to various UK-based Law firms on various cross-border family matters and succession and inheritance issues;
  • Assistance with the enforcement of foreign judgments in Malta to EU and South-East Asian clients;
  • Residency and citizenship services for several clients, including American citizens;
  • Services for the incorporation of various FDI start-ups in Malta, including pharmaceutical companies with Israeli and Canadian interests.

Network and programmes

8Point Law has access to an extensive global network of law firms, businesses and associations.

Dr John Bonello is a fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers, wherein he frequently attends and participates in international conferences held all over the globe.

8Point Law is also an approved agent for Malta’s citizenship by Investment Programme. The global mobility of high net worth and ultra-high net worth individuals is on the rise and a growing number is looking at investment migration in order to broaden horizons and expand business interests in Malta. Potential applicants for the Malta Individual Investor Programme must make use of the services of approved agents, and 8Point Law are fully-qualified to assist international clients in such matters.

The firm is also a member of IR Global, consisting of the world’s leading legal, accountancy and financial advisers, recommended exclusively by jurisdiction and practice area.

Client Testimonials


CLIENT: Dino Bossa, Area Manager Southern Europe, International Air Transport Association (IATA)
COMPANY/FIRM: International Air Transport Association (IATA)
TESTIMONIAL: “We have full trust in 8Point Law as we find their level of service effective and valuable. The team at 8Point Law understand the key issues related to aviation compliance in Malta and the support needed by international organisations.”

Diversity


Biriș Goran’s priority will always be the needs of its clients. However, the firm also recognises the need to give back to the wider community that made us what, and helped us reach where, we are.

As such, we actively encourage our lawyers to get involved, and dedicate firm resources and time, to a number of initiatives past and present:

  • Gabriel Biriș is actively involved in Ready Nation Ro, a Romanian NGO supported by Ready Nation US, which aims to determine a large number of Romanian business leaders to actively engage in creating public policies impacting the early education; Gabriel is also an active member of AOAR (Asociația Oamenilor de Afaceri din România), an apolitical organisation, recognised as a supporter of the most valuable ideas and actions that cause the Romanian economy to develop and integrate more and more into the European and world economy
  • Ruxandra Jianu headed in 2019 the tax taskforce of the Coalition for Romania’s Development (Coaliția pentru Dezvoltarea României), a private non-political initiative, gathering the most representative organisations for the business environment in Romania, with the purpose to provide a cohesive basis for consultation with the government and other public institutions on topics that impact the business and economic climate in Romania
  • Supporting Fotograful Anului în România (the Photographer of the Year in Romania) with legal advice , a national large-scale competition aiming to recognise Romanian photographic art and photographic artists and to further become a platform for promotion, valorisation and education in the art of photography. The competition’s jury is formed of prestigious photographers from Romania and abroad, editors of international publications as well as cultural managers in the field
  • Providing pro bono assistance with regulatory and litigious issues for identity rights protection to the PACT Foundation, a non-governmental and non-profit organisation, which helps foster sustainable development of at risk local communities in rural and small-urban areas in the south of Romania
  • Supporting ZP3, a non-governmental and non-profit organisation set up by two of our colleagues, Anca Zegrean and Teodora Moțatu, devoted to help orphans and impoverished children with education materials, food and clothing, toys, cleansing products, and in some cases fire-wood. “We take a particular interest in talented and academically gifted children, aiming to achieve both immediate and lasting change in their lives by providing them with educational supplies, and helping them to fulfil their potential” (Anca Zegrean)
  • Active involvement in various chambers of commerce. For instance, Biriş Goran has been present at AmCham’s task forces on Tax, Competition, Energy or IP / IT matters since its inception in 2006
  • Providing pro bono work to selected charities, such as SOS Satele Copiilor, Ovidiu Ro, Asociatia Vasiliada or Fundatia Scheherazade

Diversity


The firm is, and has always been, committed to promoting equal opportunities across the board, and we have engaged and retained students, professionals and supporting staff from all backgrounds, be it race, religion, ethnicity, sex and/or sexual orientation. At 8Point Law, we believe that inclusion is the key to our success, and our strengths lie in offering flexibility at the place of work in order to ensure that everybody’s needs are met. This platform encourages every member of our team to put their strengths together to create a strong and harmonious team which tackles issues together as one, each contributing giving their fortes to complement one another.

Our ethos is that the pooling of differences adds wealth to the firm’s output and renders us able to tackle today’s cosmopolitan needs in the most wholesome of ways.

We firmly believe in staying true to our roots and contributing to our society. In this respect, we provide several services pro bono very willingly, and aim to carry on expanding the number of such files as we grow. Our aim is to implement measures so as to enrich our social policy and safeguard interests which are not limited to our own.