Clyde & Co enters new European market with 20-year insurance expert

Global insurance-focused law firm  Clyde & Co has expanded into another European market with the hiring of a 20-year insurance expert in handling complex commercial disputes and the opening of its seventh office in the region.

The company has hired insurance partner Leonardo Giani (pictured) from Simmons & Simmons, where he headed the firm’s litigation and insurance practice in Italy. He has 20 years’ experience handling contentious and non-contentious matters, including assisting financial institutions in high profile and complex cross-border and domestic disputes, either in court or in arbitration. Giani focuses on directors and officers insurance, general liability, professional indemnity, public officials’ liability, environmental claims, product liability and recall, property insurance, cyber insurance and warranty and indemnity insurance.

Clyde & Co is opening its seventh European office in Milan, Italy, as part of its international growth strategy, following plans to open in Bangkok. The company established an office in Calgary in October, and in Santiago, Chile, in August last year. In 2021, the firm announced office openings in Vancouver, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Denver and Munich. Clyde & Co also has offices in Dublin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Madrid, Munich and Paris.

Carolena Gordon, Clyde & Co’s senior partner, said: “Opening in Italy has been a long-term ambition for the firm. Not only will the new office support the growth of our global insurance group and provide clients with the benefit of our services in this important jurisdiction, but it will also provide an excellent platform for further growth in our other core sectors and for the expansion of our European commercial disputes offering.”

Henning Schaloske, partner at Clyde & Co and chair of its European board, commented: “On the back of our dynamic growth in Europe, our strategy is to expand into other jurisdictions that are key to our clients. Italy has one of the largest insurance markets in Europe and is home to a number of our most important clients. Leonardo has an excellent reputation both in the Italian market and with our clients in the rest of Europe, including in the UK. His expertise will provide a strong foundation for our Milan office to grow in support of the insurance market and our other practice areas too.”

Giani added: “Opening a new office within a firm that has such strong connections to the insurance market, with ambitions to grow a market-leading offering in Italy, is an exciting step in my career and a great fit for my own practice. I’m looking forward to working alongside my new colleagues and making connections across Clyde & Co’s global network.”

Did you get value from this story?  Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.