Watson Farley beefs up Rome with local hire

The Rome office of Watson Farley & Williams has raided local player Agnoli Bernardi e Associati for a banking and finance partner and his assistant.

Vincenzo Di Spinzero joins Watson Farley on Monday (16 October), along with his assistant, boosting the firm’s partnership headcount in Rome to three.

He joins from Agnoli, the 22-partner spin-off of local firm Pavia e Ansaldo, where he was also a partner. Agnoli was founded last year by Pavia’s former managing partner, Marcello Agnoli.

While at Agnoli, Di Spinzero’s clients included major Italian banks, as he specialises in advising banks on regulatory aspects of funds work.

Watson Farley Rome managing partner Carlo Galdo told The Lawyer: “We believe his experience fits in with our practice and boosts our business generally.”

The firm’s Rome offering is mainly limited to banking and finance and corporate and M&A capabilities, as well as projects and infrastructure work.

Di Spinzero’s appointment is the first lateral hire the office has made since Galdo’s arrival with two assistants in 2003. The office also failed to make up any associates this year.

But Galdo told The Lawyer that more growth was expected and that he was “considering options”.