Independent Italian firm Tonucci has hired two TMT partners and one M&A partner following the defection of the firm's TMT practice head last November.

The 185-lawyer firm has hired Daniele Santosuosso, a senior professor at the University of Rome, who teaches corporate law. Santosuosso, who joins the firm as a partner, was part of a government committee that drafted reforms of Italy's company law regime.

Also moving is Michele Carrelli Palombi, one the founding partners of KPMG's local law arm, who specialises in M&A and telecommunications. The final partner is former Willkie Farr & Gallagher IP and IT specialist Agostino Clemente.