Evelyn Micelotta

Professional Service Firms Between Resistance and Change:: Business Law Firms in Italy Evelyn Micelotta

In the last decade, several studies have looked with increasing interest at the significant changes occurring in Professional Service Firms (PSFs), starting from their extraordinary growth in size. However, extant contributions rely almost exclusively on Anglo-American countries. To wit, our knowledge of these economic titans is based on a relatively ?limited' empirical set of data notwithstanding each country is characterized by different institutional settings, historical and cultural backgrounds. This book focuses on a comparatively unexplored empirical setting - the Italian legal market - and some of its most prominent national and international law firms. Previously a 'closed' market, Italy has experienced in the 1990s significant turbulences and changes, in particular when foreign firms started to ?invade' the country. The analysis sheds new light on the complexity of change processes in the legal profession. It is therefore intended for both academics, fascinated by the uniqueness of Professional Service Firms, and professionals, intrigued by the influence of cultural boundaries on professional norms and practices.