Using EU Next Generation funds (called PNRR in Italy), judicial authorities in Italy are currently recruiting hundreds of young lawyers to help judges reduce the mountains of files that have piled up over the decades and have become proverbial for the slowness of the Italian judiciary. The candidates – mostly lawyers - serve as research assistants; the first proclaimed goal is to reduce the length of trials in civil cases from an average of 1202 days (year: 2019) to 976 days by June 30, 2026 (source: Italia Oggi, Jan. 27, 2022). At the same time, the speed of Italian courts is extremely variable; the first instance can also take only 100 days (Ferrara), but also 1800 days (Valle della Lucania) (source for this: Sole 24 Ore of 28/02/2022).