We were honoured to organise, together with the Rome Bar Association, the seminar “𝗣𝗿𝗼 𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗼 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗴𝗮𝗹 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻”, held in the prestigious Aula Avvocati of the Palace of Justice in Rome. The discussion focused on the evolution of the pro bono culture in Italy, the role of the legal profession in protecting the most vulnerable, and the opportunity for formal recognition of pro bono work in Italian legislation.
We would like to thank Alessandro Graziani, President of the Bar Association, and Board Member Enrico Lubrano, our President Giovanni Carotenuto and Board Member Fabrizio Arossa, Giulia Patanè (PILnet), Alessandro Seminati (CSV), Daniela Di Rado (CIR), Francesca Turci (Fondazione Rava), Patrizio Gonnella (Associazione Antigone), and the representatives of AIGI – Associazione Italiana Giuristi d’Impresa, Raimondo Rinaldi and Valerio Bruno.
- the Global Meeting of In-house Legal Professionals, during which Giovanni Carotenuto highlighted the fruitful collaboration with AIGI and the in-house counsel already affiliated with Pro Bono Italia ETS;
- the Meeting of Clearinghouse professionals, where we presented our success stories and activities;
- the Legal Clinics session, held at Roma TRE University, where Giovanni Carotenuto outlined the importance of the Permanent Roundtables and partnerships with legal clinics, aimed at nurturing the next generation of professionals and raising students’ awareness of pro bono legal practice.
On Wednesday, 12 November, we had the pleasure and honour, as Host Committee, of opening the Global Forum 2025 together with fellow colleagues during the Opening Plenary Session, where Giovanni Carotenuto gave a brief address.
Numerous other events that same day saw us take centre stage:
- Pro Bono in Action: Live Project Pitches and Opportunities for Collaboration;
- Marketplace, which ran through 13 November, where we showcased our platform and engaged with leading organisations on the challenges and opportunities surrounding access to justice;
- the seminar “Aligning strengths: in-house & law firm collaboration in the pro bono sphere”, from 3:45 to 4:45 p.m. at Hotel Villa Pamphili, Borghese Room, where Giovanni Carotenuto moderated the panel featuring our colleagues Fabrizio Arossa and Federico Fusco alongside Chengying Cai and Flavia Oliveira. Thanks to our colleagues, we explored tools and practices from other jurisdictions to make legal assistance more responsive to the needs of non-profits, sharing concrete experiences.
Many thanks to PILnet for their trust (Andrej Nosko, PhD, Julia Mayerhofer and the amazing team who made the event such a success), to our partners, and to all participants in our sessions.
We now look ahead to the New Year with a rich programme of activities — ready for the 2026 Forum in South Africa!
