here are the magnificent 10, the top ten – Corriere.it

For the first time there is an Italian at the helm of a global law firm. This is Charles Adams who since last May, the new global managing partner of Clifford Chance, the first Italian lawyer to succeed in the enterprise. This is probably the factor that determined his nomination as Lawyer of the Year, the special in which the online magazine Mag and the Legalcommunity.it information site, directed by Nicola Di Molfetta, talk about the protagonists of the legal services market business in Italy.

The podium this year made up of Charles Adams (Clifford Chance), Filippo Troisi (Legance) and Stefano Simontacchi (BonelliErede). Charles Adams (Italian mother and enrolled in the Milan Bar Association) considered one of the masters of banking & finance consultancy. Last year, for example, he assisted the institutions in relation to the first 2.5 billion euro sustainability-linked loan of FS Italiane. Second place goes to Filippo Troisi, senior partner and co-founder of Legance, who has confirmed himself as one of the most active lawyers on the M&A market front, working on very important dossiers. It is no coincidence that under his guidance, in the last financial year, Legance was among the best performers on the market, achieving growth of 20.6% over the previous year and reaching 123 million euros in terms of revenues.

The bronze medal goes to Stefano Simontacchi, president of BonelliErede, who has carried forward the strategic innovation policies of the studio, pushing on internationalization, people management and technology. Choices appreciated by the market, considering that the BonelliErede studio has reached a historic milestone in the last year: exceeding 200 million in turnover. It had never happened, until now, to an Italian law firm.

The market

But what year has this 2022 been for the Italian legal business services market? Very positive, almost beyond all wildest expectations. managed to ride the long wave of growth recorded in 2021 (+10%, for a turnover of almost 2.9 billion euros). The first nine months of the year were full of important operations (just think of the Atlantia, Autogrill, Mps, Ita, Milan, Irca dossiers, not to mention Diasorin, Cdp and Roma football). What is about to end, therefore, has been a year of growth that consolidates a trend which, despite the Covid emergency, has not had any setbacks in the last five years.

But the concern of the main exponents of business lawyers for 2023 is not small. The slowdown in business in the USA, which is already occurring, is a trend anticipator. Energy crisis and recessionary scenarios are the unknowns that scare the most. Meanwhile, the large legal organizations active in the country are working on their business models by investing in management, internationalization and ESG. Another factor that fuels hopes for next year is that of acquisitions on the horizon which will probably be accelerated by the turbulence caused by geopolitics.

The age of maturity

Under the lens of Mag and Legalcommunity, in this edition, there are over 50 profiles that best describe a generation of business lawyers that has reached its full maturity. The average age of 56 years. The most senior (70 years old) among the professionals on the 2022 list is the doyen of Italian tax lawyers, Guglielmo Maisto. While, the youngest on the list is Francesco Lombardo (40 years old), who in recent months has become the managing partner of Freshfields. The picture of the under 50s is completed by Michele Briamonte, managing partner of Grande Stevens, Gregorio Consoli co-managing partner of Chiomenti, Carlo Gagliardi, at the helm of Deloitte Legal, Carloandrea Meacci, reference partner in Ashurst, Laura Orlando and Eugenio Tranchino, in order managing partners of Herbert Smith Freehills and Watson Farley & Williams.

The number of women in the rankings is growing, albeit slowly, passing from 10% to 12%. Among these, Gabriella Covino, co-head of the restructuring department of Gianni & Origoni; Stefania Radoccia, head of EY tax & law in Italy; and Sara Biglieri, head of Dentons litigation at European level.

Also interesting is the analysis of the national roots of origin of the law firms represented in this photograph of the Italian business lawyers. It is immediately evident that 58% of the professionals mentioned work in Italian law firms, 38% work in structures of international origin and the remainder in the legal and tax branches of the so-called Big Four of consultancy.

A deployment, the latter, which is gaining ground and large slices of the market.

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