Biography

I consider myself a hybrid kind of researcher, with a commitment to the law of contract and frequent inroads into the history, philosophy and methodology of law. My current interests concern the expansion of private regulation beyond its traditional boundaries and the development of mixed regulatory modes.

My recent research topics include the role of national regulatory agencies in protecting the interests of small investors and the use of contract standardization to enhance corporate social responsibility vis à vis the violation of human rights. During my year at the EUI I will take on the role of private regulation in the design of property rights in the markets for energy.

I earned my Ph.D. from the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (2007), with a dissertation on the uses of legal arguments in the interpretation of contracts (summa cum laude, supervised by Professor Navarretta, University of Pisa, Francesco Busnelli, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, and G. Furgiuele, University of Florence).

My doctoral research abroad included a semester (2003) at the Max Planck Institute in Hamburg and a semester at the Yale Law School (2004) funded by the Italian National Council of Research. I also hold an advanced degree in Law (University of Florence, summa cum laude) and an advanced degree in Philosophy (University of Urbino, summa cum laude). I have been granted a two-year post-doctoral Fellowship by the University of Pisa.

My doctoral dissertation eventually evolved into a book (Interpretazione del contratto e argomentazione giuridica, 2008) that develops some new insights on the role of the interpretive canons in decision-making, the epistemology of the general clauses, the tasks and limits of the good faith principle as a vehicle of distributive justice. I have also published several articles concerning legal interpretation, the law of biotechnologies and the law of contracts.