CC's Italian furore takes a twist as Chessa opts to remain with firm

Clifford Chance's wranglings with its Italian partners took another turn last week when it emerged that senior banking partner Luigi Chessa has been persuaded to stay with the magic circle firm.
Chessa is understood to be a likely frontrunner for the new managing partner role, which Clifford Chance wants to introduce in Italy.
However, Italian senior partner Vittorio Grimaldi, M&A head Roberto Capelli and banking and finance partner Francesco Novelli are all among the partners understood to remain at loggerheads with London over the future management structure of Grimaldi e Associati Clifford Chance.
None of them have yet resigned, but as revealed in The Lawyer last week (25 March), Grimaldi is threatening to quit the firm and set up an independent practice with other disgruntled partners.
Clifford Chance wants to introduce the managing partner role in Italy as part of a firmwide initiative to bring all offices in line with the Clifford Chance structure. But Italy is taking longer than elsewhere to resolve.
The aim is to find a solution by the end of the Clifford Chance fiscal year on 30 April and the discussions with Italy are expected to rumble on until then.
At present, the disgruntled partners are understood to want to shape their own management structures.
An Italian managing partner would be expected to improve communications between Grimaldi and the other offices, which are not considered to be good enough.
Ideally, any proposal for a managing partner candidate would come with the endorsement of Grimaldi himself, if he can be persuaded to stay with Clifford Chance.