About

KONE is a global leader in the elevator, escalator and automatic building doors industry. The KONE Italy legal department takes charge of legal matters in its home market. ‘The mission of the Italian legal team is to provide legal assistance to different group business lines and manage all the legal aspects of the company ensuring compliance with all applicable laws and regulations in a strictly Italian context’, says head of legal Maurizio Raffaini, who joined the company in 2017 and is frequently recognised in industry awards. In recent years he has been included in the 2018 GC Powerlist: Italy. Also taking on a prominent role within the team is legal counsel Paola Zaninotti, who has several years of experience in dealing with complex legal issues. ‘While the in-house lawyer of the past would have been solely responsible for legal matters regarding the business, this is no longer the case. As a consequence, the legal department increased the spectrum of duties and responsibilities, including more business focused responsibilities and also taking on regulatory and operational risk management’, explains Raffaini. This broad spectrum of duties has created a rapid increase in the authority of the legal department, which has made the position more complex and central than ever before. The team continues to advise on a wide range of activities, from advising on M&A, competition law, intellectual property, distribution to supply agreements, sponsorship and other commercial agreements.