DLA team breaks away to form Italian employment boutique

The Employment Law Plant - which is abbreviating its name to hELP - is led by DLA Piper partner Aldo Calza, together with fellow founding partners Iacopo Aliverti Piuri, Stefania Maglienti and Sharon Reilly.

Piuri and Maglienti join from their positions as senior associates at DLA Piper, while Reilly was a lawyer at Toffoletto.

Calza told The Lawyer he believed a boutique model was more effective for clients when it came to employment advice.

“After four years at DLA Piper I thought it was better to have an international firm only for employment matters, just to avoid the big conflicts in international firms,” Calza said.

The firm has offices in Rome, Palermo and Milan but is setting its sights on establishing a presence in London, Brussels, Paris, Berlin and possibly New York in 2012 through recruitment of partners.

Reilly added that the firm wanted to remain independent and not join a network or alliance.

The Employment Law Plant will predominantly advise companies on employment matters, in a range of sectors.

Meanwhile, this week established employment boutique Lablaw opened its fourth office, launching in the southern Italian city of Pescara. Partner Andrea Bonanni Caione has joined Lablaw along with associate Donatella di Felice to set up the Pescara office.

The move marks continued expansion for Lablaw, which opened in Padua at the start of the month (6 October 2011).