Partners of the global law firm K&L Gates LLP and the Italian firm Marini Salsi Picciau Studio Legale (MSP) have agreed to a combination of firms, giving K&L Gates its 41st office worldwide – and eighth in Europe – in the Italian industrial and financial center of Milan. It is also K&L Gates’ eighth new office in the past two years, following openings in Warsaw, Tokyo, and Moscow during 2010; and Brussels, Doha, São Paulo, and Charleston, S.C., in 2011.

“We are delighted to welcome our new Milan colleagues to the firm,” said K&L Gates Chairman and Global Managing Partner Peter J. Kalis. “In 2012 and years forward, the great powers of Europe will seek to balance sovereign prerogatives with the imperatives of a single currency. Against this changing backdrop, clients will need, and will receive from K&L Gates in Milan and our other European venues, the best possible legal advice.”

 

In addition to providing K&L Gates its first office in Italy, the world’s eighth largest economy by gross domestic product, the combination capitalizes on the firms’ shared capabilities in a range of practices, including corporate, mergers and acquisitions, infrastructure projects, restructuring and bankruptcy, and litigation and arbitration, among others. Utilizing K&L Gates’ fully integrated, four-continent platform, the Milan team of partners Giampaolo Salsi, Pasquale Marini, and Alberto Picciau and several associates is particularly well-positioned to assist Italian clients in establishing or growing their businesses throughout the world.

“We are delighted to establish our Milan office with such a highly respected and experienced group of partners together with their excellent team,” stated Martin Lane, K&L Gates’ Managing Partner, Europe. “The creation of this new office further increases our European transactional and disputes capability and enables us to assist clients in another major economy.”

“Alberto, Pasquale, and I found in K&L Gates an ideal fit in terms of practice, professional standing, and culture. We look forward to sharing the great benefits of this combination with our clients, associates and staff,” commented Salsi, who serves as Administrative Partner of the Milan office and who concentrates his practice on corporate and commercial matters.