BARI – “To enter the legal profession takes passion and a genuine vocation.” Michele Laforgia, among Bari’s most distinguished criminal lawyers, offers a snapshot of the category, steeped in realism. He comments on the more than 400 deletions from the bar.
Mala tempora for Bari lawyers. Effect of the crisis?

“No. Advocacy has its own crisis, which has its own reasons and which is not yet all fulfilled. I am not surprised about the cancellations. I am surprised that the membership remains over six thousand.”
Why?
“Advocacy is no longer a reference profession.”
Isn’t it more coveted and prestigious?
“For my generation, enrolling in law school meant success in life. For many years that has not been the case. Now the gifted kids, who don’t have a family practice, don’t think about being lawyers. The horizon composed of years of frustration, little certainty and uncertain earnings discourages.”
Six thousand colleagues remain.
“Bar membership has functioned as a clearinghouse, also gathering many who are not in my profession.”
So many are bewildered.
“The old path of co-optation, with professionals selecting practitioners, does not work. The good ones don’t want to be lawyers, and this becomes another factor in the deskilling of the profession.”
What is the significance of difficulties in obtaining fee payments and charges from the Bar Association?
“Operating costs matter; the tax burden is enormous. Those who produce pay taxes. In fact he pays too many taxes, even for those who don’t pay them. In addition, the costs of access to justice have become greater. The service we provide lives within a ‘justice system’ that has efficiency and reliability problems.”
When you started were the expectations higher?
“Another world. Anyone knew that if they did brilliantly in college, they would find a profession. Not anymore. Now the profession has become hostile and deontologically more treacherous.”
Where did you take your first steps?
“In Milan. My father (Pietro Leonida, lawyer for the weakest, mayor and senator of Bari, ed.) was a well-known professional, and I chose to move there. The first day I was told, ‘Ours is a running profession.’ Holy words.”
What could policy do to make your life easier?
“Making choices that make sense in terms of the functioning of justice.”
Advice to a young student who dreams of wearing a robe?
“I would suggest to them to run, as they advised me. You have to run to make it. And eventually you will also run a shorter road than ours.”

Read the article in Il Corriere del Mezzogiorno