In parallel, Deloitte Legal has announced the appointment of Luca Failla as partner and head of its employment & benefits division. Failla is a founding partner of LabLaw, a leading Italian boutique that specializes in labor law.

Failla’s arrival at Deloitte ends his fourteen year professional partnership with Francesco Rotondi, who together created LabLaw in 2006. The boutique has since established itself nationwide in the field of labor law, opening seven offices over the last decade and a half. The firm currently has a legal staff of around 50. Rotondi remains at the helm of LabLaw in the role of managing partner.

In a joint statement, the firms explain that, as per the framework of the agreement, LabLaw and Deloitte Legal will remain independent entities with different focuses, with LabLaw concentrating on litigation and Deloitte Legal on consulting. The agreement is the result of negotiations started in recent weeks following a merger proposal that would have seen  LabLaw become part of Deloitte Legal, a proposal that was rejected. The outcome of the negotiations did, however, see Failla make the switch to Deloitte Legal and the simultaneous launch of the partnership agreement with LabLaw.

Luca Failla is one of the most talked-about labor lawyers in Italy. He has vast experience working alongside Italian and foreign companies in all issues related to labor law, litigation and corporate reorganization. Recently, he worked on the reorganization of La Perla and Adecco in a litigation before the Court of Cassation.

Failla joining Deloitte Legal is further confirmation of the Big Four’s the strategy of expanding legal divisions in Italy.