A highly-regarded five-partner team last week quit Slaughter and May's Italian ally, Bonelli Erede Pappalardo, to join Latham & Watkins, marking the latest team departure at a leading independent Italian law firm.

The move, reported on 22 November by legalweek.com, will see the team join Latham & Watkins' Italian arm, providing the US firm with its first local law capability in the region as well as a presence in Rome.

Bonelli partners Andrea Novarese, Maria Cristina Storchi, Fabio Coppola, Tommaso Amirante and Simone Monesi all join the top 10 US firm as partners. Four of the new team will join Latham's Milan office, bringing in local M&A, private equity, equity and debt capital markets and banking capabilities. Amirante will be based in Rome – the firm's first office in the city.

Latham Italian practice head Michael Immordino said: "Something we have always looked at launching is a local law capability and we thought the time was right after managing to secure such a talented team."

For Latham, the move represents a second European venture this year after it made its long-awaited Spanish debut at the beginning of 2007 with the hire of corporate partner Jose Luis Blanco Ruiz from local firm
Cuatrecasas.

The Bonelli move is also the latest in a string of high-profile departures from Italian firms, which are faced with succession issues and strategy disputes. Some firms have altered their remuneration structure and introduced larger management committees in an attempt to appease younger partners.

However, last month it emerged that around 90 lawyers, including the executive committee of Gianni Origoni Grippo & Partners, would be leaving to set up their own firm, after disagreements with founding partner Francesco Gianni and other older partners at the firm over its strategy.

Lovells Rome-based private equity partner Leah Dunlop said: "This adds to a number of recent departures from independent firms in the Italian legal market. It will make the competition for high-value deals even more fierce and could really open up the market."

Last year, around 25 lawyers, including four partners, also left Gianni to form a standalone venture, citing irreconcilable strategic disagreements. The new Rome-based firm now practises under the banner Labruna Mazziotti Segni.

Name partner Fabio Labruna said: "It is just a matter of time with second-generation lawyers getting to an age when they can decide to take a different professional route."