Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Italy intellectual property (IP) spin-off Orsingher has launched an office in Rome, marking its second base in the country.

Orsingher has opened the office with the hire of Domenico Colella, name partner at local firm Portolano Colella Cavallo, which will now be known as Portolano Cavallo.

Colella will be the firm's fourth partner after Matteo Orsingher, the former Italy IP and IT head at Freshfields, launched the boutique in 2007 with Freshfields colleague Fabrizio Sanna.

The firm counts a number of high-profile clients among its portfolio including Amazon, Yahoo, Disney and Oracle.

Milan IP head Marco Consonni said: "Rome is an important base for regulatory matters and is a key location for telecoms and entertainment companies, so when we were presented with the opportunity to hire Domenico, who is an important player in our area, we took it.

"We are now looking for associates to build the office. With all of our partners previous experience we have created a very successful model which is appreciated by players in the TMT sector and are consistently receiving new work from high-profile global companies."

Consonni joined Orsingher last year from the Milan office of Dewey & LeBoeuf.

Further partners from Dewey's Italy arm, one of the firm's largest international practices, are understood to be considering breaking away from the firm amid the current upheaval which has seen more than 60 partners leave so far this year.