A&O's Italian employment team jumps ship to LabLaw

Piergiovanni Mandruzzato, a senior counsel at A&O who is qualified in English law, will join as a partner together with associates Livio Bossotto and Giorgia Giorgetti.

Mandruzzato has worked with A&O for 10 years and advises employers on Italian labour law.

LabLaw founding partner Luca Failla said that the attraction of the team was its international expertise.

“Ninety per cent of our clients are multinationals and their subsidiaries,” he said. “The A&O team use the same cultural approach. We’re used to translating Italian concepts to North American and multinational companies.”

Failla did not confirm whether this was an opportunistic move for LabLaw or whether the team was headhunted, but said: “The employment market in Italy is a very closed market. We knew each other very well but [previously] the times were not ready to create the relationship.”

A&O did not return a call for comment.