Women in Legal Business - Mara Fittipaldi

Mara Fittipaldi is a partner at FIVERS Studio Legale e Tributario, where she leads banking and finance work. Her practice sits at the intersection of financial regulation, lending structures, capital markets transactions, and the commercial negotiations that underpin them. Banking and finance law rewards a specific kind of lawyer, one who understands not just the legal structure of a transaction but the commercial logic driving it, and who can adapt the legal architecture to serve that logic rather than constrain it. Fittipaldi has built her practice around that alignment, and her account of how she got there is structured around the discipline of listening that made it possible.

Looking at your career path, what unique leadership trait has been most instrumental in allowing you to "move the needle" within your organization?

I have worked both at big international law firms as well as at independent Italian law firms but despite the difference in size, structure and type of clients, all the organizations had the same approach to quality and listening in all directions.

And listening has been and continues to be my characteristic key. At first, it was listening to senior figures within the firm that allowed me to learn legal techniques, and as I gained seniority, it was listening to clients' commercial needs that allowed me to adapt legal techniques to business decisions.

Reflecting on the past year, what is the most significant positive change you have observed regarding gender equality and female representation within the upper echelons of the Italian legal market?

In my view growth doesn’t always have to be dramatic—it can be subtle and incremental. I started to recognize and enhance small victories along the way which are the foundation for the larger achievements. In this respect I noted more and more women taking the floor at negotiating tables leading discussions and attending celebration events. And these small steps add up over time.

How do you personally advocate for the inclusion of more women in high-stakes decision-making?

In this case too, listening is one of the most effective ways we can support the growth of talented women. I try to do this both on a personal level and within the committees we have set up specifically to provide support to DEI strategy.

Of course, listening is only the starting point: being able to act on feedback including dissenting voices is also crucial.

In a sector historically rooted in traditional structures, what is the single most important cultural shift still required to ensure that the Italian legal business becomes a truly meritocratic environment for the next generation of women?

Fortunately the situation is improving and there are many successful women reaching the top levels of their organizations who are also mothers, but I think that an important cultural shift, which is still required to ensure that the next generation of women can work in a truly meritocratic environment, is that to recognize that women can choose but they don’t have to choose between motherhood and career and that being a mother or deciding to become one doesn’t affect their talent and their achievements until then and does not negatively impact on their ability to progress and to become a top player in their field. A good balance should be set and, in this respect, also a better recognition of the role of the fathers in the upbringing of the children should be encouraged.  

Success is rarely a solo journey. How has collaboration with other women (in-house or external) influenced your approach to business, and how are you paying that forward within your team?

Through collaboration with other women (clients, in house legal counsels or other advisors, and colleagues of other law firms) I learned to see the different sides of the business on which I was working and also from different perspectives, and that helped me not only to better understand the project and thus to carry out the work successfully but it was also useful to learn the importance of the relationships between people, which can help both from a working and a human standpoints. Within my team, I share my views and ask for those of my team when working together in order to find the best solution, and I try to mentor and guide my colleagues so that they can learn not only the technical aspects of the work but also the business side of it.

One "hard truth" or piece of advice for young women entering the legal profession today?

The work in the legal field remains highly technical but the mere legal knowledge is not sufficient nowadays as also a good understanding of the business of the client is crucial in order to assist them in the best possible way. Moreover, the hard skills should be accompanied with soft skills in order to have success in our profession. Therefore, I would advise young women entering this field to keep cultivating the legal knowledge and ability but also to constantly learn the business in which their client work, without overlooking the development of their soft skills.