Paul Hastings growth spurs hunt for space

The Milan office of Paul Hastings Janofsky & Walker is on the hunt for more office space after nearly trebling in size since launching last May.

The office, which now has 16 lawyers, has continued to grow since the September recruitment of Sergio Sambri, a second corporate partner from Norton Rose.

"We have space for 25 lawyers but we can still grow," said office co-head Bruno Cova. "With an extra partner and his team, it wouldn't take very long to fill nine spaces."

Corporate mandates from clients including Italian airline Alitalia have driven the firm's growth. In December, Cova's co-head Roberto Cornetta, who also joined from Norton Rose, represented Alitalia in the company's $445m (£253.5m) refinancing.

At the moment, the firm leases office space from flamboyant fashion designer Gianni Campagna, whose shop space occupies the office's ground floor. Cova said he would prefer to lease more space from Campagna than move to another office.

Paul Hastings fought off competition from a number of US and UK firms when it convinced Cova, who was legal counsel to Parmalat administrator Enrico Bondi, and Cornetta to launch its Milan operation. Both seem to have settled in, with Cova declaring that he had no regrets about the move to private practice.