Five senior Italian partners are quitting the local office of Clifford Chance (CC) along with 26 lawyers in the culmination of a long-running row over the management of the top UK firm’s Italian practice.

The five partners are Vittorio Grimaldi, the name partner of CC’s Italian merger partner, Rome-based Francesco Novelli and Valerio Di Gravio, and Milan partners Roberto Cappelli and Alberto Dubini.