Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is in talks with a group of top Italian lawyers to win support for the proposed ‘development’ of the local legal market, Legal Week has learned.

The unusual move, spearheaded by Freshfields partner Giovanni Lega, has so far led to a series of meetings, the first of which took place on 8 April this year. A second is believed to have happened on 17 June, with the next scheduled for 16 September.