Who do you call when management trouble rears their head? Some firms may bring in external consultants, but if you are Lovells you call private equity partner Leah Dunlop.

Dunlop, who has just been voted in to the role of managing partner for Italy to steady the local arm, is making quite a name for herself as ‘the fixer’. In April she was voted onto Lovells’ new look management committee and helped keep the private equity practice going after star partner Marco Compagnoni jumped ship for Weil Gotshal & Manges.

Now she faces the challenge of steadying the Italian arm, which she helped establish six years ago, after Italy and Milan managing partner Paolo Criscione announced he was leaving. One of her priorities is to separate the Milan and wider Italy managing partner roles, appointing Marco Rota Candiani to the new Milan job.

The Italian partnership voted Dunlop in as Italy managing partner unanimously. They consider her one of the family. But once the practice has been steadied, will ‘the fixer’ look to move on?