The contracting parties may contractually choose one or more courts of jurisdiction. In the absence of such a clause, the court of the other party's registered office is generally competent. For example, a German company has to sue its Italian distribution partner in Italy, while the latter has to file his lawsuit against the company in Germany. In addition, the commercial agent or the distributor can also benefit from a more favourable rule, whereby he is allowed to sue at the place of performance - usually at his place of residence. Thus, the commercial agent or the distributor working in Germany can in principle sue the Italian company before a German court.  In Italy, the commercial agent has basically the possibility to initiate the special procedure for labour matters ("rito del lavoro"), since commercial agents are assimilated to employees under Italian law. This special procedure is significantly faster and cheaper than the ordinary civil procedure.