13 January 2026
Our founding partner Giuseppe Fornari was interviewed by MAG – Legalcommunity.it on the evolution of the role of the corporate criminal lawyer and on the new phase of development undertaken by the Firm.
During the interview, it is highlighted how the criminal lawyer has today become a natural and integral presence in the life of companies, called upon not only to manage crises but increasingly to prevent them and to support management in strategic decision-making. This cultural shift has its roots in the introduction of Legislative Decree No. 231/2001 and in the evolving needs of the business world.
Within this framework lies the growth path of Fornari e Associati, already set in motion in recent years with the promotion to partner of Enrico Di Fiorino, Emanuele Angiuli, and Lorena Morrone, and destined to continue with the admission of new partners drawn from the Firm’s current team.
Alongside litigation activity, which remains the core of the profession, the Firm has progressively strengthened its expertise in compliance, organizational models, workplace health and safety, prevention of environmental crimes, and the management of criminal and reputational risks, including in extraordinary transactions.
From this evolution stems the project to flank the Firm with a structured network of of counsel in key areas such as M&A, environmental law, and tax law, with the aim of offering clients truly integrated and multidisciplinary assistance.
The dialogue with MAG also includes a reflection on the challenges posed by the expansion of artificial intelligence: a tool destined to have a profound impact on the legal profession, yet one that will not be able to replace the central role of the human factor in the relationship of trust with the client.
INTERVIEW:
FORNARI E ASSOCIATI, A NETWORK OF OF COUNSEL IN THE WORKS
What is the goal? To expand the Firm’s service offering and further integrate its white-collar crime core practice. Speaking to MAG, Giuseppe Fornari outlines the evolution of corporate criminal law, which is becoming less reactive and increasingly embedded in the day-to-day life of companies. Compliance, risk prevention, and support for strategic decision-making are taking on a central role.
In corporate criminal law, the era of purely reactive defence has long since come to an end. Today, the criminal lawyer is increasingly a central and integral figure in the life of companies: “although our primary role will always remain in the courtroom, the criminal lawyer is now called upon not only to manage crises, but to prevent them and, often, to help guide strategic decision-making.” It is from this awareness that the new phase of development of Fornari e Associati originates. Founded by lawyer Giuseppe Fornari, and recognised as one of the country’s leading criminal law boutiques, the firm is now looking to the future with a project aimed at complementing the firm with a structured network of of counsel professionals.
Today, the firm comprises approximately twenty professionals and four partners, the result of a deliberate choice made from the outset. “I decided to invest in young lawyers from the very beginning of their training, entrusting them with responsibility and promoting them to partners based on merit in the field, not on the clients or revenue they bring in. It is one of the things I am most proud of, after my son Gianmarco,” Fornari explains. This internal growth has led Enrico Di Fiorino, Lorena Morrone and Emanuele Angiulli to become partners, each with a distinct professional profile, and may in the future result in other members of the team joining the partnership. Fornari, firmly established among the leading figures in the field of business crime, describes himself as a “traditionalist criminal lawyer with an eye to the future”: deeply attached to courtroom advocacy and adversarial proceedings, yet, together with his partners, committed to expanding the firm’s focus beyond litigation to include compliance and legal awareness, areas that have become increasingly central for companies.
According to the founder of Fornari e Associati, this cultural shift inevitably dates back to 2001, with the introduction of Legislative Decree No. 231. “Organisational models have transformed criminal law. Today, the criminal lawyer is no longer perceived as a threat, but as a natural and necessary presence in corporate life.” Compliance programmes, ethical models, anti-corruption systems, delegation of functions, workplace safety and the prevention of environmental crimes have become structural elements, with a direct impact on companies’ legality ratings and their ability to do business.
This role now extends to extraordinary transactions as well. “We are increasingly involved in acquisitions: it is no longer just a matter of reviewing numbers and contracts, but of understanding what criminal and reputational risks a company carries with it. No one wants to buy a box that contains a virus,” Fornari observes. This awareness is particularly evident among directors and executives, who are increasingly attentive to the personal and corporate consequences of strategic decisions.
Today’s criminal lawyer therefore has a dual vocation: “advising managers and companies has become a daily activity, alongside what is — and will remain — our natural dimension, namely litigation, also in light of the legislature’s growing tendency to create new criminal offences.” Fornari does not shy away from criticising what he calls “over-criminalisation”: “In Italy, there is a tendency to think that every problem can be solved by introducing new crimes and increasing penalties. But that is not how crime is reduced.” True prevention, he argues, lies in concrete measures: real safety on construction sites, intelligent public policies, education, and targeted incentives for virtuous companies. “Installing an extra streetlight in a dark neighbourhood is often more effective than increasing penalties.”
Alongside the technical dimension, the human relationship remains central. “The trust that develops with a company director during criminal proceedings is comparable only to that between doctor and patient,” Fornari says. A relationship that often leads clients to seek advice beyond strictly criminal matters, recognising the criminal lawyer as a trusted and authoritative point of reference. It is also from this perspective that the idea emerged to go beyond traditional external collaborations. “Criminal lawyers increasingly work in close coordination with other business professionals, which naturally leads to considering new and more structured forms of collaboration.”
The firm’s plan for the coming years is clear: to complement the firm — which will remain a criminal law boutique — with a number of of counsel professionals integrated on a stable basis. “I do not intend to abandon the long-standing and successful professional relationships we already have, but rather to offer clients a more structured first level of response,” Fornari explains. The areas identified are those most frequently requested by clients: M&A, administrative and environmental law, and tax law, with the possibility of also including non-legal expertise, such as business economists or corporate advisors. The objective is to support companies in a comprehensive manner, from a preventive and strategic standpoint. The first integrations could take place as early as 2026–2027.
This model differs from more invasive merger or aggregation attempts that have often remained on paper: here, the autonomy of professionals is preserved within a shared framework of values, style and ethics. “Technical excellence is essential, but so is the way the profession is practised,” Fornari emphasises.
All of this fits into a broader vision of the legal profession shaped by more than thirty years of experience, beginning in the early 1990s during the Tangentopoli period and continuing with the opening of his first law firm in his early thirties. Today, Fornari e Associati is also a point of reference for younger generations, thanks to an intense mentorship programme and collaborations with student associations, particularly at Bocconi University.
Looking ahead, the challenge of artificial intelligence also looms large, which Fornari describes as “a historic revolution.” Yet the message is clear: technology and humanity must coexist. “The more technology advances, the more we must cultivate a new humanism. Those who believe they can rely solely on AI, neglecting human relationships, education and sensitivity, are bound to fail.” In corporate criminal law, where personal freedom and reputation are at stake, the human factor remains irreplaceable: “in the digital age, proximity to one’s client is essential; this is also why we have opened offices in Rome and Bari, to ensure clients have a point of reference throughout the country.” It is precisely on this balance between innovation and values that the future of the boutique will be played.
