Partner Alessandro Varrenti and Valentino Vescio di Martirano of Tonucci & Partners win in the court of Rome a case brought by The Rome Opera Theatre vs. the firm’s client Mikhailovsky Academic Theater of State Opera and Ballet M. Moussorgsky. The case concerned a claim for damages allegedly suffered by the Rome Opera on the grounds of the supposedly binding value of a “letter of intent” (with the attached draft agreement) about the collaboration between the theaters in respect of a series of concerts for the celebration of the 180th anniversary of the foundation of the Russian theater. The court’s reasoning hinged upon the defendant counsels’ main argument that letters of intent in international practice are not binding as a matter of principle, despite the “substantialist” doctrine that legal documents need to be interpreted on the basis of their contents.