A&O to lose practice leader as local market braces itself for the downturn
Allen & Overy (A&O) is set to lose at least one practice group head in Italy to local leader Gianni Origoni Grippo & Partners.Antonella Capria, the managing partner and founder of A&O's Italian environmental and regulatory practice, is expected to leave the firm at the end of April to join Gianni. In addition, the magic circle firm's co-head of litigation, Alberto Nanni, is also thought to be talking with other firms, with Gianni among those involved.
March 12, 2009 at 01:23 AM
3 minute read
Magic circle firm's Italy practice head quits for local leader as Italy prepares for tough times
Allen & Overy (A&O) is set to lose at least one practice group head in Italy to local leader Gianni Origoni Grippo & Partners.
Antonella Capria, the managing partner and founder of A&O's Italian environmental and regulatory practice, is expected to leave the firm at the end of April to join Gianni.
In addition, the magic circle firm's co-head of litigation, Alberto Nanni, is also thought to be talking with other firms, with Gianni among those involved.
Neither partner is understood to be involved in A&O's global restructuring, which is expected to see the firm reduce its partnership by 9%.
A&O's Italy practice has seen a number of high-profile departures in recent years, losing former corporate head Paolo Cerina to Babcock & Brown last year, on the back of departures including tax head Andrea Manganelli and Milan banking partner Davide Mencacci the previous year.
Gianni, meanwhile, has been moving to rebuild its ranks after suffering a four-partner defection to spin-off law firm Labruna Mazziotti Segni in 2006 and an 85-lawyer defection to Legance in late 2007.
The moves come as the Italian legal market starts to feel the toll of the financial downturn.
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's Italian managing partner, Raffaele Lener, said the firm was expecting a 40%-50% drop in Italian corporate market activity in 2009 compared with 2008.
Meanwhile, many in the local market predict consolidation in the legal sector as a result of the downturn.
SJ Berwin's Italy head Alberto Morano (pictured) said: "There are discussions that we could see a reduction of 10%-20% of Italian firms through mergers and liquidations. We have a significantly smaller deal market with lower margins."
However, local firm NCTM, one of only a few Italian firms to discuss its results, managed double-digit growth in 2008, despite the market conditions.
The 230-lawyer practice said it increased revenues by 15% to around E63m (£57m), up from E55m (£49m) the previous year.
NCTM senior partner Paolo Montironi commented: "The result was mainly due to our relatively low exposure to the banking and high-end M&A sectors, and due to the client and practice area fragmentation policy adopted by our firm from inception."
The firm is one of -several mid-sized Italian firms currently in the market for a merger.
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