Linklaters & Alliance has hired partners from Simmons & Simmons and Shearman & Sterling's Italian operations in order to bolster its presence in Italy.
The pair will become Linklaters' first secondees to its new Italian ally, Gianni Origoni & Partners.
The secondees are British corporate partner Julian Berger, from Simmons & Simmons Grippo, the English firm's Italian arm, and Luigi Sensi, an Italian banking partner from US firm Shearman & Sterling's Rome office.
Gianni Origoni, the 18-partner firm which joined the Linklaters European alliance in July last year, will place Berger in its Milan office and Sensi in its Rome office.
The firm has also seconded lawyers to Linklaters in London. It currently has one tax and one corporate senior associate with its English ally.
Gian Battista Origoni, the Italian firm's co-managing partner, said the Italian lawyers in London were there more on a short-term training basis, whereas the two new partners would be based in Italy for the long-term, although they would remain outside the Italian partnership.
It is understood that Berger decided to join Linklaters after Simmons & Simmons in London asked him return to England. Berger is understood to have wanted to stay in Italy due to family commitments there.
Shearmans is currently in on-going merger negotiations with top-tier Italian firm Chiomenti.
The news of the closening ties between the City and Italian firm follows last week's vote in favour of merger by Linklaters' German ally Oppenhoff & Radler.
Meanwhile in Spain, Linklaters, which has been trying hard to build its Madrid office through hires after failing to find a local alliance partner, has hired four associates, including the senior in-house lawyer Ignacio Santillan.
Santillan is currently head of legal at SCLV, the Spanish stock exchange's trading and settlement body. He is being joined by three corporate Spanish associates from the Spanish offices of Freshfields, Garrigues Andersen and Uria & Menendez.