Global law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (‘Freshfields’) has appointed Francesco Lombardo as its new office managing partner for Italy. The appointment, effective from 21 February, will run for a three-year term. Francesco Lombardo succeeds Nicola Asti, who managed the Milan and Rome offices from 2015, for two consecutive terms. Francesco Lombardo leads the financing and capital markets practice in Italy. He joined the Firm in 2008 and was elected partner in 2019. From 2021, Francesco has built up the sustainability group in Italy with the aim of developing and coordinating the firm’s offer in the areas of global business and human rights, sustainable finance, diversity, climate change and corporate governance. Francesco commented: “I feel honoured for the trust in me by my partners and by the management of the firm – a trust that represents an incentive to face the responsibilities of this demanding role with the utmost enthusiasm and energy. I take the baton from Nicola Asti, whose six-year mandate represents a model to inspire me. I intend to commit myself, with the support of the partners and all the colleagues, in the work of consolidation and development of our activities with the aim of providing our clients with excellent assistance and up to the changing needs that we identify on a daily basis in the market.” “Thank you to Nicola for the dedication over many years as office managing partner for our business in Italy,” says Markus Paul, Regional Managing Partner for Continental Europe at Freshfields. “I am pleased to welcome Francesco in his new role. Francesco has shown time and time again that he is forward thinking and a strong leader. All of us in Continental Europe and beyond are looking forward to working with Francesco and the other partners and colleagues in Milan and Rome in bringing our business forward.” Nicola Asti commented: “I am pleased that Francesco will take over the leadership of the firm in Italy and I am sure that with his enthusiasm and competence he will contribute to further strengthen our business in Italy.”