Data from the Ministry of Justice

Legal specialisms hold no appeal for lawyers: ‘It’s the market that decides’

Fewer than 500 qualifications so far. Zero awards for ‘proven experience’

by Giovanni Negri

3 June 2026

Law, Consultation, Agreement, Contract, Attorney or Lawyer holding a pen is consulting with a client to explain the pattern of answering questions before going to court to decide a lawsuit Jirapong - stock.adobe.com

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

3' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

The list of legal specialisations is being updated, but, overall, the legal profession’s interest in the specialist title has yet to take off. This week, the Justice Committees of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate are discussing the Ministry’s decree formalising the extension of the specialist lawyer title to commercial and corporate law. However, the report accompanying the measure provides a snapshot of the current situation in light of the titles conferred to date by the CNF.

The figures

To go into a little more detail, with regard to qualifications already obtained, the CNF has recognised the title of specialist lawyer for 325 lawyers research and 137 lawyers who have attended the training courses provided for in the 2015 regulations. In particular, the qualifications are distributed mainly across the sectors of employment law (38 specialists), family law (50 specialists), criminal law (40 specialists) and tax law (3 specialists).

No specialist lawyer qualification has been awarded through the route of proven experience, ‘which highlights the difficulties of the current system in adequately recognising the skills gained in the field".

The flop

These figures are certainly not impressive, and perhaps do not warrant describing the institution—which is, moreover, beset by difficulties and the subject of appeals before the Regional Administrative Courts regarding legal specialisation—as a failure; yet they certainly bear witness to the (for now) almost negligible quantitative significance of the qualification for a category of professionals which has around 230,000 members on the Register.

The regulatory framework

The provision for legal specialisations was introduced by the Professional Act governing the legal profession (Law 247/2012, currently being rewritten); the implementing regulations were introduced by Ministerial Decree 144/2015, which was the subject of appeals and was partially annulled, then amended and supplemented by Ministerial Decree 163/2020. There are three ways to obtain the qualification: proven experience, attendance of suitable training courses and holding a PhD in one of the specialisation sectors.

Criminal Chambers

According to Rinaldo Romanelli, secretary of the Criminal Chambers (the Union has been running training courses for young professionals for many years), there may be several reasons for this: ‘Over the years, more than 1,200 colleagues have taken part in our courses, with very different backgrounds, ranging from those intending to specialise exclusively in criminal law to those, particularly those practising in small to medium-sized towns, who wished to acquire a range of additional knowledge.’

As for the lack of appeal of the title, Romanelli acknowledges that the two-part examination required by the CNF to obtain it, at least in the initial phase of the Ministry of Justice’s regulations (this issue should now be resolved for the approximately 60 lawyers who have started the new specialisation course run by the Criminal Chambers), clearly acted as a deterrent, favouring access via a PhD qualification, whilst regarding recognition through proven experience, Romanelli points out that ‘the number of assignments required to qualify is by no means small and, moreover, those who have already gained significant recognition in the market have little interest in a certification that adds nothing’.

Labour lawyers

According to Tatiana Biagioni, president of Agi (Association of Italian Labour Lawyers): ‘The figures are worrying, but they relate to a long transition period, which, as far as higher education institutions are concerned, we can finally consider to be over. The specialisation courses, established through agreements between the most representative specialist associations, such as Agi, and universities – in our case those of Catania, Florence, Milan-Bicocca, Padua, Reggio Calabria, Luiss in Rome and Turin – began in October last year. We are truly satisfied with the work carried out and the path that will lead those enrolled in the specialisation, after two years of study. The fruits of this work will become apparent as early as 2027, and we are confident in the growth potential of this new training tool for young lawyers.”

“As for proven experience,” admits Biagioni, “there have certainly been challenges, but the interviews required to obtain the specialisation have finally begun, albeit with a delay (which affects the figures). The fact that those attending school can obtain specialisation before those who have been practising labour law for years is undoubtedly a problem. That said, we also note a difficulty in the process due to the complexity of the documentation required, but above all a certain lack of attention on the part of solicitors who have been practising as labour lawyers for years and who are still not focusing on this important driver of professional growth”.