Bocconi Grad Named Among Italy’s Youngest Magistrates

At 27 Maddalena Torelli has already accomplished many a milestone in her academic and professional career. After graduating in Law, she passed the Italian bar exam and the magistrate competition when she was 25, becoming one of the five youngest magistrates in Italy. And this is a person who originally wasn't sure she wanted to become a magistrate. The Lecce native – who will begin her first solo role as an employment judge in Crotone, Calabria next September – chose the Bocconi School of Law because she wanted to keep her options open after completing her degree. "In particular, Bocconi's emphasis on economics would have been useful if I had chosen a career in business law," says Torelli, "but I didn't." Torelli opted instead for a life in the country, instead of the city life of the stock exchange. "Before graduating I did a 3-month internship at the American firm Freshfields-Brukaus-Deringer, specializing in international, financial, banking and commercial law, and I realized that this wasn't the life for me." With that choice out of the question, the idea of a judicial career seemed plausible. "Both of my parents are doctors, so this career isn't a family tradition. Rather, it's a sort of calling. Ever since I was a little girl I've always tried to mediate arguments in the family or between friends," she explains. So, after graduating in 2004 with honors, she enrolled in the post-graduate Law School.

After that she took the magistrate exam, a tough test that only a small percentage of applicants pass. In February 2006 there were 12,000 registered for the written part of the exam in Milan and 342 passed. These lucky individuals were then eligible to take the oral portion in Rome the following June. At the end of her oral interview Torelli was officially declared magistrate of the Italian Republic, and has since passed the Italian bar exam as well. In fact, 91% of Bocconi graduates that take the bar exam obtain the professional qualification compared to the national average of under 40%. Torelli went on to work on a general apprenticeship, working with civil, criminal, minor and other courts. "Then, for six months I will work with a senior judge at an apprenticeship in order to train to be an employment judge," she explains.

But that's not all for Torelli. Last October she was recognized by Minister Giorgia Meloni as "one of the youngest magistrates in Italy along with four other colleagues, as I was only 25 years old when I was appointed." The prize? "A new computer, to represent the modernization efforts of the Italian magistracy." And after Crotone, Torelli might come back to Milan. "If I decide to work in economics and finance, Milan could be one of my destinations. After all, when I passed the exam, I was the only one with a degree from an economics school." Torelli says she loves sailing and travels to Greece every summer, which is close to her hometown of Lecce. The one hundred kilometers between Milan and the sea therefore make it difficult to foresee her return to the place of her alma mater.