Allen & Overy (A&O) rainmaker Roberto Casati will go straight to the top of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton's lockstep as part of the deal secured this week with the leading New York firm to dramatically bolster its Italian practice.

As first revealed on www.legal
week.com, A&O Italian senior partner Casati resigned for Cleary on Monday (26 April) and will join the New York firm's Milan branch on 1 May as its first partner based full-time in the city.

The deal means Casati, one of Italy's best known M&A lawyers, is expected to draw more than $2m (£1.12m) annually.

Cleary, which has made a number of high profile European hires over the past 12 months, is also to relocate US-qualified capital markets partner Michael Volkovitsch to Milan in June. Casati is expected to bring a number of associates with him.

The loss of Casati is a high profile blow for A&O, which was regarded as having so far evaded many of the cultural tensions that have dogged rivals like Clifford Chance during the integration of its Italian practice.

Only last week, real estate partner Giovanni Marini left the UK firm's Milan arm for US giant Jones Day.

Italian lawyers blamed Casati's move on a management shake-up that attempted to integrate the practice, inherited from the 1998 merger with Italian firm Brosio Casati e Associati, into A&O's global practice structure.

One A&O partner commented: "Roberto found that the more layers of management there were, the more complex things became. I think he found it all very confining."

Casati was also one of three co-heads of A&O's global corporate management committee, alongside London-based head of corporate Richard Cranfield and senior Amsterdam-based partner Sietze Hepkema.

The UK firm has since confirmed that New York senior partner and co-head of A&O's US law group, Dan Cunningham, will take Casati's position on the committee, which is responsible for practice strategy.