Four partners from Chiomenti Studio Legale are jumping ship to Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, just months after the Italian firm formed an alliance with Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom.
The four partners — Massimo Benedettelli, Bruno Castellini, Renato Paternollo and Marzio Longo — have started at Freshfields this week.
Renato Paternollo is a tax specialist who advises US and European banks and equity funds with their Italian tax issues. The other three partners focus on corporate, finance and securities work at the UK firm.
One lawyer at a rival firm in Milan speculated why the four partners have made the move, saying: "I think they are unhappy with the arrangement with Skadden. [The lawyers] think they will have to concentrate on domestic work rather than generating international deals."
Chiomenti failed to return calls before press time.
Bruce Buck, partner-in-charge of Skadden's European offices, denied that the Chiomenti partners would be relegated to being the Italian offshoot of a US firm. "We set up the alliance so that we could both be involved in cross-border work," he said.
He added: "I don't even know who the four partners moving are. They weren't involved in our discussions when we set up the alliance with Chiomenti."
