Dewey Ballantine, Italy
The path to success in Italy is strewn with monuments to failure. UK and US-headquartered firms, known locally as anglosassoni, find it particularly difficult to make the marriage of cultures a happy one. Think of the 2004 divorce of Linklaters and Gianni Origoni Grippo & Partners, the 2005 split between McDermott Will & Emery and Carnelutti, or even the amicable arrivederci from Allen & Overy to Pavesio e Associati.