I need legal advice.
kon-su-LEN-tsa le-GAH-le — stress the third syllable of consulenza and the second of legale.
Use this when you need professional legal advice from an avvocato (lawyer). This is necessary for employment disputes, tenancy problems, immigration issues, criminal matters, or any situation where your rights are at stake.
In Italy, legal advice (consulenza legale) can be obtained from an avvocato (lawyer), a patronato (for labour and social security matters), or pro bono services at university law clinics. Avvocati are regulated by the Consiglio Nazionale Forense. For basic questions, the patronato is free and extremely capable.
Devo parlare con un avvocato.
I need to speak to a lawyer.
Direct and clear; avvocato is the Italian term for a qualified lawyer/barrister.
Esiste il patrocinio a spese dello Stato?
Is there legal aid funded by the state?
Italy has a legal aid system (patrocinio a spese dello Stato) for those with income below a threshold.
Il patronato offre consulenza gratuita sul lavoro.
The patronato offers free advice on employment matters.
The fastest and cheapest route for labour-related legal questions.
Italy has one of Europe's highest ratios of lawyers per capita — over 240,000 avvocati for a population of 60 million. Despite (or perhaps because of) this abundance, access to justice is slow: Italian civil courts are among the slowest in the EU, with first-instance cases averaging 500+ days. Legal reform has been a recurring theme in Italian politics for decades.