Italian firm Gianni Origoni Grippo & Partners is to change its name as it brings in an 11-lawyer team from Grimaldi & Associati led by partner Roberto Cappelli.

Cappelli (pictured) will join the Italian leader on 1 December as a name partner, bringing with him a team of four senior associates and six associates.

The hire, which was unanimously approved at a partnership meeting this week, will result in the firm changing its name to Gianni Origoni Grippo Cappelli & Partners.

Milan-based Cappelli is one of the most senior lawyers in Italy and formed part of a five-partner team leading the breakaway of Grimaldi from then merger partner Clifford Chance in 2002.

He heads Grimaldi's corporate and M&A practice, and currently serves as deputy chairman of football club AS Roma as well as a member of the board of directors at Italian media company The Space Entertainment and Florence-based financial services company Fondiaria SAI.

Gianni senior partner Francesco Gianni commented: "These hires demonstrate our ability to attract the finest talent in the legal sector. Roberto Cappelli is one of the best known and most highly respected lawyers in Italy and internationally."

He added: "The decision taken at the partners meeting to expand our name underlines the contribution that Cappelli will make to the growth of the firm."

The team hire, which will see lawyers joining both Gianni's Milan and Rome offices, will take the number of lawyers in the firm's corporate finance group to more than 150.

The other lawyers joining Cappelli are senior associates Salvatore Grimaldi, Stefania Lo Curto, Sara Paoni and Nabor Zaffiri, together with associates Francesca Biocca, Annamaria Briamonte, Francesco Conti, Lucia Occhiuto, Francesca Pagnanini and Pietro Vitale.