Vivian Grace Chammah is a senior associate in our IP and IT law practice
What did you study before becoming a lawyer?
I graduated in Italian and French law in a double degree programme that led me from Milan to Florence – where I spent two years attending the University of Florence – and then to Paris, where I attended the Université Paris I Panthéon Sorbonne for three years. It was without a doubt a great academic opportunity – one that required a certain degree of flexibility, too, especially when moving from one legal system to another and changing methods of study. But it was also rewarding from a human perspective: all Italian students attended the same courses as the French students, which created lasting friendships.
After graduating, I decided to stay in France for some time to attend a master’s in IP law and to qualify as a lawyer there.
I wrote my final dissertation on international law issues raised by cybercrime, which is when I began to become passionate about the role of law in addressing the opportunities and challenges associated with the continuous growth and evolution of the digital world. I’ve been lucky enough to be able to address these issues professionally during my practice, which I did for a while at the French legal office of Cisco Systems before joining BonelliErede in 2015 as a lawyer.
What kinds of matters do you handle now at BonelliErede?
Working for BonelliErede’s IP and IT practice has given me the chance to continue to specialise in these issues, especially innovation. I’m also a member of the firm’s Digital Innovation Focus Team.
Digital innovation now cuts across all economic sectors and indeed all aspects of our society. This makes my work dynamic and interesting, as client requests come from the most varied of sectors: be it e-commerce, energy, banking, healthcare, media, or even IT suppliers themselves. From a legal standpoint, there are recurring topics that my team and I monitor to be sure we’re always up to date: IP law, contract law (including the technicalities related to IT service contracts), e-commerce regulations, privacy law, and more specialised regulations such as those governing electronic signatures.
What do you like about BonelliErede?
In addition to working alongside professionals who are leaders in their fields, one of the things I appreciate most is the spirit of teamwork and collaboration that we’ve instilled here. I find that our common interests in certain subjects, especially when working on a project with the Digital Innovation Focus Team, often leads to discussions and analysis that go beyond legal solutions in themselves – that often we are in fact also led to reflect on the impact of innovation from a broader perspective.
Lastly, my life at BonelliErede includes sharing personal interests with my colleagues and broadening my horizons. My biggest passion is music, and I can’t wait until the pandemic is definitively over so that I can get back to performing in concerts, which have always been a fun and informal way to meet up with colleagues who come to see me play – be it at the theatre or at the park!
