Hogan Lovells’ Rome office has lost partners Gianroberto de Giovanni, Massimiliano Marinozzi and Paolo Ricci to Ernst & Young.
The trio will join as partners of the Italian legal offering of the global audit firm in its Rome and Milan offices. Ricci will take over the leadership team in Italy, while de Giovanni and Marinozzi will head the corporate and dispute teams respectively.
They join Ernst & Young (E&Y) partner Francesco Marotta, who will supervise the development and supervision of the firm’s Mediterranean offices in Italy, Spain and Portugal.
Ricci joined Hogan Lovells’ Italian start-up in 2000 and was head of the firm’s Italian corporate insurance team. Meanwhile, de Giovanni led the Italian energy practice while Marinozzi has over 20 years’ experience of disputes and led Hogan Lovells’ Rome litigation practice.
E&Y’s Italian boost comes as CEO Jim Turley prepares to retire on 30 June after a 12-year stint. He will be replaced by former Bush administration assistant secretary to the US treasury, Mark Weinberger.
Elsewhere, E&Y’s London office also recently announced it intended to boost its in-house legal team, with general counsel Lisa Cameron confirming to Legal Business that it was currently in the process of hiring.
The auditing firm reported global revenues of revenues of $24.4bn at the end of its financial year in June 2012, a $1.5bn increase from 2011 figures, while the headcount was at an all-time high of 167,000.
A spokesperson for Hogan Lovells said: ‘While we are sorry to see Paolo, Gianroberto and Massimiliano move on, our Italian and broader European corporate and litigation practices are very strong market leaders and will continue to expand.’
In other news, Slaughter and May ally and Italian royalty Bonelli Erede Pappalardo has elected two new managing partners following an overhaul of its governance structure.
Employment partner Marcello Giustiniani and tax head Stefano Simontacchi have taken over as joint managing partners from Alberto Saravalle, who served two three-year terms in charge of the firm. Giustiniani will be in charge of internal management, while Simontacchi will oversee strategy.
sarah.downey@legalease.co.uk