Legal Professionals Grapple with Bridging Knowledge Gaps
A peek into the legal sector reveals a complex tapestry of disparities - geographical, gender, and age. Investigations underscore these disparities, with female attorneys earning only half of their male counterparts, making it the highest gender pay gap among liberal professions. In Lombardy, for instance, the average income is staggeringly 3.5 times greater than in the poorest region, Calabria. An eye-popping 1.5% of the over 233,000 lawyers contribute a jaw-dropping third - with super-invoicing over 500,000 euros - to the global GDP of the legal profession 1.
With such prominent issues, the proposed reform of the legal profession intends to address these discrepancies, including the alarming trend of monocommittenza among budding lawyers.
However, there's no denying the dynamism within the field. From the booming GDP of the legal profession (approaching 15.5 billion in 2024, a +5.2% increase from 2023) to average incomes surpassing 47,000 euros, these figures beat inflation, offering a glimmer of hope 2.
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Encouraging signs of progress emerge from the ever-evolving sectors of law, such as tax law and M&A, grappling with tax reform implementation and market transformations, respectively. they're evolving from mere advisory roles to offering pre-acquisition and post-acquisition consulting services to investors in turbulent economic conditions 3.
An intriguing survey commissioned by Statista for our website 4 also highlights the recommendations of law firms of excellence in 2025, gathered from over 25,000 participating attorneys. This seventh edition features 52 newcomers, with a total of 371 law firms making the list. Of these, Ponti DePauli Partners and Cacciola - Carpentieri have earned recognition 1 4.
For more comprehensive information on the top-performing law firms in Italy, consult the full report or survey published by Il Sole 24 Ore or Statista.
The evolving tax law and M&A sectors in the legal profession are not only providing advisory roles but also pre-acquisition and post-acquisition consulting services to investors, showcasing the finance business technology influences on these areas.
Despite the outstanding progress made in certain sectors and the improvement in average incomes, disparities such as the gender pay gap and monocommittenza among budding lawyers still need to be addressed, highlighting the need for ongoing reform in the legal profession.
