Gianni Origoni Grippo & Partners has named a new managing partner as 85 departing lawyers break off from the Italian leader to form a new independent firm practising as Legance.

Rome-based M&A lawyer Tomaso Cenci has been confirmed as the new managing partner of Gianni Origoni, which still has around 250 lawyers.

Cenci, who headed the firm's New York office between 2000 and 2004, will lead an executive committee that also includes Milan-based M&A partners Gianluca Ghersini and Ottaviano Sanseverino as well as Rome real estate partner Domenico Tulli and City banking partner Marco Amedeo Zaccagnini.

Name partner Gianbattista Origoni will also sit on the executive committee, with Francesco Gianni staying on as senior partner.

Meanwhile, Legance was officially launched on 1 December, with 17 former Gianni Origoni partners among those leaving the Italian giant.

Legance will be headed by former Gianni Origoni managing partner Giovanni Nardulli, who was only appointed to the role in June, and will include former executive committee members Alberto Giampieri, Filippo Troisi and Bruno Bartocci. They are joined on Legance's inaugural executive committee by fellow partner Alberto Maggi.

Legance will initially be based in the Rome office of Gianni Origoni but is set to move to new premises in the coming months.

The break-up follows disagreements between Gianni Origoni's previous executive committee and founding partner Gianni over strategic issues including the firm's hiring policy, its onus on billable hours and the importance of regional offices.

Other large Italian independents to split in recent years include Pavia & Ansaldo, which broke up in 2005 following disagreements over international strategy, with managing partner Marcello Agnoli quitting with a team of around 50 lawyers to launch a new firm. At the time, Pavia & Ansaldo had numbered approximately 150 lawyers and was a regular referral partner of City giant Herbert Smith.

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