Hogan Lovells has hired Legal 500 Hall of Famer for administrative and public law Luca Perfetti as the firm continues to strengthen in Milan. Perfetti is well regarded for his work in highly regulated sectors as well as infrastructure and public procurement.
Perfetti, who has moved with three associates and a trainee, joins from Italian firm BonelliErede and moves into the firm’s global regulatory and IP practice. He is the 16th partner that Hogan Lovells has added to its Italian practice in the last two years.
‘Luca’s arrival confirms our continued investment in Italy and further strengthens our regulatory and public law offering,’ said the firm’s Italian head Patrizio Messina.
Meanwhile, restructuring partner Astrid Zourli has left Hogan Lovells to join Darrois Villey Maillot Brochier in Paris, where she will lead the firm’s restructuring practice. Zourli, who leads on complex out-of-court domestic and cross-border processes, spent six years at Hogan Lovells, having made partner in 2022. He joined the Chicago firm’s Paris outpost as a partner in 2022.
Elsewhere in Paris, McDermott Will & Schulte has hired debt finance and PE partner Kalish Mullen from Kirkland & Ellis. Mullen is a Legal 500 next generation partner whose practice is focused on acquisition, fund and debt finance, as well as restructurings.
In Riyadh, Nezar Al-Abbas has joined Ashurst as a partner in the firm’s projects and energy transition team after nearly six years at White & Case, where he was a local partner since being made up in 2024.
Heading to the City, Macfarlanes hired tax disputes partner Kate Ison from BCLP where she has been a partner since 2018 after joining in 2009.
Pinsent Masons has strengthened its international arbitration offering as Cem Kalelioglu joins the firm as a partner after an eight-year stint at WilmerHale where he reached the position of counsel.
Keystone Law has also bolstered its international arbitration bench with a double partner hire from Clyde & Co. Ian Hopkinson and Milena Szuniewicz-Wenzel both make the move across, with the former having started at Clydes as a legal assistant in 2007. The moves come a week after Clyde’s international arbitration chair Ben Knowles also decamped to Keystone.
Michelmores has opened a new office in Cambridge following a three-partner raid from Broadfield. Real estate partners Simon Burson and Tim Middleton alongside corporate partner Duncan Walker, who have been at Broadfield for nine, five and eight years respectively, will establish the new office.
Finally, regional firm Gardner Leader has hired employment lawyer Michelle Morgan as a partner in its Newbury office. She was most recently an associate director at BCLP.
