DLA Piper has parted ways with a five-lawyer, partner-led real estate team in Rome to Italian major Gianni & Origoni, which is building out its real estate capability in Italy where the sector is burgeoning.
Filippo Cecchetti, a real estate and corporate law specialist, joins Gianni’s real estate department in Rome where he will co-head the practice along with partners Davide Braghini and Domenico Tulli.
He arrives with his current team, which includes counsels Eleonora Laurito and Giulia Minetti Floccari and associates Filippo Coen and Gregorio Calabresi.
As part of his role, Cecchetti will focus on, among other things, developing the firm’s international real estate business, Gianni said in a statement announcing the moves.
Before joining DLA Piper as a partner in 2018, Cecchetti practised at Gianni’s Italian rival Chiomenti for 15 years, rising to partner, according to his LinkedIn profile. Laurito and Minetti Floccari also practised at Chiomenti before joining DLA Piper, according to their LinkedIn profiles.
Alongside BonelliErede and Chiomenti, Gianni is among Italy’s most profitable law firms.
The move comes less than a year after DLA lost a seven-strong private equity team to Squire Patton Boggs in Madrid.
Tulli said in the statement: “Notwithstanding the uncertain macroeconomic climate, Italian real estate shows excellent activity levels and returns plus solid prospects compared to other European markets, and is supported by good fundamentals and competitiveness.
“In this context, Filippo’s arrival will strengthen our ability to assist clients in seizing and developing market opportunities.”
Braghini added that the arrival of Cecchetti and his team “supports our firm’s strategy to consolidate and further strengthen its position in the real estate sector.”
Real estate is a burgeoning sector in Italy, practitioners have told Law.com International, with high interest from international investors, especially those who do not need bank financing and are paying in strong dollars.
Sectors that are of particular interest include infrastructure, which is supported by generous government-backed loans to encourage energy efficiency, and logistics, spurred by the growth in e-commerce in Italy during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
M&A is also experiencing selective growth at the high end, practitioners say, for largely the same financial reasons.
Gianni counts more than 430 lawyers and five offices in Italy, plus New York, London, Brussels, Hong Kong and Abu Dhabi. The firm has had a busy period for recruitment. In June, it welcomed a five-lawyer tax team in Milan from CMS, after losing a six-person tax team last October to Withers.
DLA Piper did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.
