Ropes adds Milan PE duo as European expansion continues

Ropes & Gray has snagged a private equity partner and counsel in Milan, adding more firepower to its Italian practice six months on from its launch.

PE transactions and M&A partner Fabrizio Scaparro arrives alongside counsel Paola Pagani from top Italian firm Giovannelli e Associati, where Scaparro was a founding partner.

The private equity-focused office opened in September last year with a three-partner team from Latham in tow, forming part of the firm’s aggressive European expansion strategy.

Ropes’ European play

Building out in Europe is a current priority for the US firm, with Paris being particularly busy laterals-wise.

Its Paris office opened in March last year with three private capital specialists poached from Clifford Chance, and has since added a ten-strong tax team from Linklaters and carried out an eight-lawyer Latham raid.

Scaparro brings the firm’s total 2026 partner hire tally to nine in Europe and takes total partner count across its European private equity practice in London, Paris and Milan to 16.

Insider insight on the firm’s European growth can be heard on this episode of The Non-Billable Podcast, where we sat down with London partners Ruchit Patel and Rohan Massey.