Norton Rose is to lose its Italian head of litigation and arbitration Cristina Pagni to City rival Lovells.

She will join the top 10 UK firm's Milan office, where she will co-manage the group with partner Francesca Rolla.

Pagni's practice covers litigation and arbitration with a special focus on insurance and reinsurance matters. She also advises on contentious insolvency and general corporate disputes.

She will be the second litigation partner for Lovells in Italy alongside Rolla, whose practices focuses on product liability work.

Commenting on the hire, Milan managing partner Marco Rota Candiani told Legal Week: "We wanted to reinforce the litigation practice on the corporate and banking side and add strength in insolvency. We are very happy with this hire since it will give us the whole range of expertise in the litigation sector."

Patrick Sherrington, Lovells head of global dispute resolution, said: "This appointment fits with our aim to develop the dispute resolution practice internationally in key areas which we have identified as being strategically important – in this case the provision of legal advice to financial institutions serving the insurance and reinsurance market, and contentious insolvency"

Lovells has two offices in Italy, with a base in Rome as well as Milan. The firm has around 100 lawyers across the two offices, with Pagni's hire taking the partner count to 18, eight of which are based in Milan.

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