Law Society of Ireland

{{Infobox organization

| name = Law Society of Ireland

| full_name =

| native_name = Dlí-Chumann na hÉireann

| native_name_lang = ga

| logo = Law Society of Ireland Logo.png

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| image = File:The Law Society of Ireland, Blackhall Place.JPG

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| caption = Blackhall Place, Dublin

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| predecessor = Society of Attorneys and Solicitors of Ireland

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| formation = {{start date and age|1852|03|15|df=y}}

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| type = Professional association

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| status = Chartered

| purpose = Educational, representative and regulatory

| professional_title = Solicitor

| headquarters = Blackhall Place

| location_city = Dublin

| location_country = Ireland

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| coordinates = {{coord|53.348754|N|6.282724|W|type:landmark_region:IE|display=inline,title}}

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| region_served = Ireland

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| membership = 11,166

| membership_year = 2020

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| leader_title = President

| leader_name = Eamon Harrington

| leader_title2 = Senior Vice President

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| leader_title3 = Junior Vice President

| leader_name3 = Martin G Lawlor

| leader_title4 = Director General

| leader_name4 = Mark Garrett

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| main_organ = Council

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| budget = €31.2 million

| budget_year = 2020

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| funding = Professional and educational fees

| staff = 146

| staff_year = 2020

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| students = 921 (Professional Practice Courses)

| students_year = 2020

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| website = {{URL|https://www.lawsociety.ie}}

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The Law Society of Ireland ({{langx|ga|Dlí-Chumann na hÉireann}}) is a professional body established on 24 June 1830 and is the educational, representative and regulatory body of the solicitors' profession in Ireland. As of 2020, the Law Society had over eleven thousand solicitor members, a staff of 150 and an annual turnover of over €30m.{{Citation needed|date=November 2022}} It is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland's capital city.

Under the Solicitors Acts 1954 to 2015, the Law Society exercises functions in relation to the education, admission, enrolment, discipline and regulation of the solicitors' profession. It is the professional body for its solicitor members, to whom it also provides services and support.{{Cite web | url=https://www.lawsociety.ie/About-Us/Who-we-are | title=Who we are }}

Relationship with the Law Society of Northern Ireland

Prior to the partition of Ireland, solicitors in what became Northern Ireland were regulated by the Law Society of Ireland. They are now regulated by the Law Society of Northern Ireland.{{Cite web | url=https://www.lawsoc-ni.org/about-us | title=About Us }}

Five seats on the Council of the Law Society of Ireland are reserved for members of the Council of the Law Society of Northern Ireland.{{cite web |title=Historic moment as solicitors strengthen north-south ties |url=https://www.irishlegal.com/articles/historic-moment-as-solicitors-strengthen-north-south-ties |website=Irish Legal News |access-date=6 January 2025 |language=en |date=3 January 2025}}{{cite web |title=Law Society of Ireland |url=https://www.lawsociety.ie/news/Annual-Report-2024/council-of-the-law-society/ |website=www.lawsociety.ie |access-date=7 January 2025}}

The Law Society of Ireland collaborates with the Law Society of Northern Ireland on various initiatives, including the Irish Rule of Law International and the Solicitors' Benevolent Association.{{cite web |title=About Irish Rule of Law International |url=https://www.irishruleoflaw.ie/about-irli |website=Irish Rule of Law International |access-date=7 January 2025 |language=en}}{{cite web |title=Solicitors' Benevolent Association |url=https://www.solicitorsbenevolentassociation.com/ |website=www.solicitorsbenevolentassociation.com |access-date=7 January 2025}}

Republic of Ireland-qualified solicitors are entitled to apply to the Law Society of Northern Ireland to be admitted to the Roll of Solicitors in Northern Ireland without taking any further examinations. Northern Ireland-qualified solicitors have reciprocal eligibility.{{Cite web|url=https://www.lawsociety.ie/Public/Foreign-Lawyers|title=Foreign Lawyers}}

History

The Law Society of Ireland was established on 24 June 1830 with premises at Inns Quay, Dublin. In November 1830, the committee of the Society submitted a memorial to the benchers as to the ‘necessity and propriety’ of erecting chambers for the use of solicitors with the funds that solicitors had been levied to pay to King's Inns over the years.{{sfn|Hogan|Hall|2002|p=31}} The committee requested that the hall and chambers for the use of solicitors should be erected away from the King's Inns, and apartments in the Four Courts were allotted by the King's Inns to solicitors in May 1841. However, the adequacy of that accommodation at the Four Courts was to be a bone of contention between the Society and the benchers for 30 years.{{sfn|Hogan|Hall|2002|p=32,40}} The first president, Josiah Dunn, was elected in 1842.

File:Dublinlawsociety.jpg

The Law Society was incorporated by royal charter obtained from Queen Victoria on 5 April 1852 under the name of "the Incorporated Society of Attorneys and Solicitors of Ireland". The charter referred to founding "an institution for facilitating the acquisition of legal knowledge", and for the better and more convenient discharging of professional duties of attorneys and solicitors.{{sfn|Hogan|Hall|2002|p=41}}

The principal events with which the Law Society was concerned on behalf of solicitors in the second half of the 19th century were the inauguration of a scheme for the education of apprentices, the independence of the solicitors’ profession from the King's Inns, and the achievement of an increasing degree of self-government and recognition of its position as the representative and regulatory body for solicitors in Ireland.

In accordance with the Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Ireland) 1877, anyone admitted as solicitor or attorney was, from then on, to be referred to as solicitor of the Court of Judicature (although the title of attorney lives on in the designation of the chief law officer of the State as the Attorney General).{{sfn|Hogan|Hall|2002|p=59}}

The professions of attorney and solicitor were fused under the Supreme Court of Judicature (Ireland) Act, 1877, and from then on, anyone admitted as solicitor or attorney was to be referred to as solicitor of the Court of Judicature (although the title of attorney lives on in the designation of the chief law officer of the State as the Attorney General).{{sfn|Hogan|Hall|2002|p=59}} As a consequence, the Law Society was granted a supplemental charter, again by Queen Victoria, on 14 December 1888 under which the Law Society was styled the "Incorporated Law Society of Ireland".

In 1888, the constitution of the Council of the Society was changed by supplemental charter, which provided that the Northern Law Society and Southern Law Association would each be entitled to appoint members to the Council of the Law Society of Ireland.{{sfn|Hogan|Hall|2002|p=43–56}}

The legal functions of the Law Society were substantially increased by the Solicitors (Ireland) Act 1898, which transferred control of education and important disciplinary functions from the direct supervision of the judges to that of the Society.{{sfn|Hogan|Hall|2002|p=43–56}}

Following the partition of Ireland, the separate Law Society of Northern Ireland was established on 10 July 1922.{{Cite web|url=https://www.lawsoc-ni.org/about-us|title = About Us}}

In 1960, provision was made for the appointment to the Council of three members of the Dublin Solicitors’ Bar Association Council.{{sfn|Hogan|Hall|2002|p=43–56}}

By the middle of the 1960s, the solicitors’ buildings at the Four Courts were proving inadequate for the expanding activities of the Society and outside premises were used for lectures for students. A special committee recommended the purchase of the premises of King's Hospital, Blackhall Place, described by renowned architectural historian, Maurice Craig, as "one of the most beautiful and, in its way, original" of Dublin's major buildings.{{sfn|Hogan|Hall|2002|p=123}} Council member of the Law Society, Peter Prentice, proposed a motion at a special meeting of the Council on 3 July 1968 (seconded by John Jermyn) that the Society purchase the King's Hospital for the sum of IR£105,000. The motion was carried unanimously and a contract was subsequently executed.{{sfn|Hogan|Hall|2002|p=124}} The Taoiseach Jack Lynch performed the official opening ceremony of the new headquarters on Wednesday 14 June 1978.{{sfn|Hogan|Hall|2002|p=125}}

In 1994, the Law Society's name was changed once more, this time the word "Incorporated" (in Irish: "Corpraithe") being omitted from its title.

The Society pressed for many years for a change in the law so as to permit the appointment of solicitors in the Circuit Court and the High Court. The Courts and Court Officers Act 1995 allowed for the appointment of solicitors as judges to the Circuit Court. In July 1996, the government announced the appointment of solicitors John F Buckley, Frank O’Donnell and Michael White as judges of the Circuit Court – the first such appointments in the history of the State.{{sfn|Hogan|Hall|2002|p=167}} The Courts and Court Officers Act 2002 provided that a person shall be qualified for appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court and the High Court by being, a practising barrister or practising solicitor of not less than 12 years’ standing.Courts of the Republic of Ireland{{circular reference|date=August 2021}} Shortly after its enactment, Michael Peart became the first practising solicitor to be appointed a judge of the High Court.{{cite news|url=http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/new-judge-scores-first-for-solicitors-26046057.html|title=New judge scores 'first' for solicitors|newspaper=Irish Independent|date=27 June 2002|first1=Gene|last1=McKenna|first2=Isabel|last2=Hurley}} Mr. Justice Peart is now a judge of the Court of Appeal as is Mr. Justice Garrett Sheehan. Current High Court judges include solicitors Max Barrett, Donald Binchy and Robert Eagar.

The current statutory basis for the Law Society is set out in the Solicitors Acts 1954-2002.

Functions

The Law Society has a range of statutory and non-statutory functions. Its statutory functions under the Solicitors Acts relate to the education and admission of persons to the profession; regulatory and disciplinary matters and the protection of solicitors' clients. The Law Society's non-statutory functions relate to the representation and provision of services to its members and protecting the public interest.{{Cite web | url=https://www.lawsociety.ie/About-Us/Who-we-are | title=Who we are }}

Education

A new Law School, built on premises adjoining the existing Blackhall Place headquarters, was officially opened by President Mary McAleese on 2 October 2000. The new library at Blackhall Place was also opened by President McAleese on the same day.{{sfn|Hogan|Hall|2002|p=288}} The Society offers a number of Diplomas in Law, CPD Training and, in partnership with Northumbria University, two Masters programmes,[https://www.northumbria.ac.uk/about-us/news-events/news/2018/04/northumbria-and-irish-law-society-celebrate-first-graduates/ Northumbria Law School and Law Society of Ireland partnership celebrates first graduates] Northumbria University, 25 April 2018. and a Professional Doctorate in Law.

Administration

The governing body of the Law Society is its Council. It comprises both elected and nominated members, all of whom are solicitors. Over the years the Council has established a range of committees to which it delegates certain of its statutory functions.

The Council may comprise not more than 48 persons. Of its membership, between 21 and 31 must be elected from among the Law Society's members. A delegate from each of the four provinces of Ireland must also be chosen. Up to five extraordinary members may be appointed from each of the Councils of the Southern Law Association and the Law Society of Northern Ireland while three may be appointed from the Council of the Dublin Solicitors' Bar Association.

As of 2009, the Law Society's Council comprised forty-eight members, being the maximum permitted. Annually they select one of their number as president. That term of office runs from early November to early November of the following year.{{Cite web | url=https://www.lawsociety.ie/About-Us/Who-we-are/law-society-Council | title=Council of Law Society }}{{Cite web | url=https://www.lawsociety.ie/About-Us/Who-we-are | title=Who we are }}

= List of presidents =

{{div col|colwidth=20em|content=

1842–1848 Josias Dunn
1848–1860 William Goddard
1860–1876 Sir Richard J. T. Orpen
1876 Edward Reeves
1876/77 William Roche
1877/78 Sir William Findlater
1878/79 William Read
1879/80 Henry A. Dillon
1880/81 John H. Nunn
1881/82 Henry J. P. West
1882/83 Henry T. Dix
1883/84 William D'Alton
1884/85 John Galloway
1885/86 Henry L. Keily
1886/87 Sir Patrick Maxwell
1887/88 Richard S. Reeves
1888/89 John MacSheehy
1889/90 W. Burroughs Stanley
1890/91 Francis R. M. Crozier
1891/92 Thomas C. Franks
1892/93 Edward Fitgerald
1893/94 John Alexander French
1894/95 Trevor T. L. Overend
1895/96 Sir William Fry
1896/97 Sir William Findlater
1897/98 William Henry Dunne
1898/99 Hugh Stuart Moore
1899/1900 Richard S. Reeves
1900/01 James Goff and Sir George Roche
1901/02 Charles A. Stanuell
1902/03 Sir Augustine F. Baker
1903/04 Robert Keating Clay and Edward D. MacLaughlin
1904/05 Edward D. MacLaughlin
1905/06 Sir John P. Lynch
1906/07 William S. Heyes
1907/08 George H. Lyster
1908/09 William J. Shannon
1909/10 Richard A. MacNamara
1910/11 Frederick Walsingham Meredith
1911/12 Gerald Byrne
1912/13 James Henry
1913/14 Henry J. Sinnott
1914/15 Arthur E. Bradley
1915/16 Charles St George Orpen
1916/17 John W. Richards
1917/18 William V. Seddall
1918/19 Richard Blair White
1919/20 Robert G. Warren
1920/21 Charles G. Gamble
1921/22 Patrick J. Brady
1922/23 Joseph E. MacDermott
1923/24 James Moore
1924/25 Arthur H. S. Orpen
1925/26 Thomas G. Quirke
1926/27 William T. Sheridan
1927/28 Basil Thompson
1928/29 Edward H. Burne
1929/30 Peter Seales
1930/31 Alexander D. Orr
1931/32 Laurence J. Ryan
1932/33 W. Gorden Bradley
1933/34 James J. Lynch
1934/35 Charles Laverty
1935/36 Michael E. Knight
1936/37 John J. Duggan
1937/38 Thomas W. Delaney
1938/39 Daniel J. Reilly
1939/40 Henry P. Mayne
1940/41 J. Travers Wolfe
1941/42 G. Acheson Overend
1942/43 John B. Hamill
1943/44 Louis E. O'Dea
1944/45 Parick F. O'Reilly
1945/46 Daniel O'Connell
1946/47 H. St J. Blake
1947/48 Sean O hUadhaigh
1948/49 Patrick R. Boyd
1949/50 William J. Norman
1950/51 Roger Green
1951/52 Arthur Cox
1952/53 James R. Quirke
1953/54 Joseph Barrett
1954/55 Thomas A. O'Reilly
1955/56 Dermot P. Shaw
1956/57 Nial S. Gaffney
1957/58 John Carrigan
1958/59 John R. Halpin
1959/60 John J. Nash
1960/61 Ralph J. Walker
1961/62 George G. Overend
1962/63 Francis J. Lanigan
1963/64 Desmond J. Collins
1964/65 John Maher
1965/66 Robert McD. Taylor
1966/67 Patrick O'Donnell TD
1967/68 Parick Noonan
1968/69 Eunan McCarran
1969/70 James R. C. Green
1970/71 Brendan A. McGrath
1971/72 James W. O'Donovan
1972/73 Thomas V. O'Connor
1973/74 Peter D. M. Prentice
1974/75 William A. Osbourne
1975/76 Patrick G. Moore
1976/77 Bruce St John Blake
1977/78 Josseph L. Dundon
1978/79 Gerald Hickey
1979/80 Walter Beatty
1980/81 Moya Quinlan
1981/82 Brendan W. Allen
1982/83 Michael P. Houlihan
1983/84 Frank O'Donnell
1984/85 Anthony E. Collins
1985/86 Laurence Cullun
1986/87 David R. Pigot
1987/88 Thomas D. Shaw
1988/89 Maurice R. Curran
1989/90 Ernest Margetson
1990/91 Donal G. Binchy
1991/92 Adrian P. Bourke
1992/93 Raymond T. Monahan
1993/94 Michael V. O'Mahony
1994/95 Patrick A. Glynn
1995/96 Andrew F. Smyth
1996/97 Francis D. Daly
1997/98 Laurence K. Shields
1998/99 Patrick O'Connor
1999/2000 Anthony H. Ensor
2000/01 Ward McEllin
2001/02 Elma Lynch
2002/03 Geraldine M. Clarke
2003/04 Gerard F. Griffin
2004/05 Owen M. Binchy
2005/06 Michael Irvine
2006/07 Philip M. Joyce
2007/08 James MacGuill
2008/09 John D. Shaw
2009/10 Gerard Doherty
2010/11 John E. Costello
2011/12 Donald Binchy{{cite web |title=Clonmel's Donald Binchy elected President of the Law Society of Ireland for 2011/12 |publisher=Clonmelonline.com |date=12 November 2011 |url=http://clonmelonline.com/2011/11/clonmels-donald-binchy-elected-president-of-the-law-society-of-ireland-for-2011-12/ |accessdate=27 August 2013 }}
2012/13 James McCourt
2013/14 John P. Shaw
2014/15 Kevin O'Higgins
2015/16 Simon Murphy
2016/17 Stuart Gilhooly
2017/18 Michael Quinlanhttps://www.lawsociety.ie/globalassets/documents/gazette/gazette-pdfs/gazette-2018/may-2018-gazette.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=September 2022}}{{cite web |url=https://www.lawsociety.ie/About-Us/Who-we-are/law-society-Council/President/ |title=President |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171115030531/https://www.lawsociety.ie/About-Us/Who-we-are/law-society-Council/President/ |archive-date=15 November 2017 |url-status=dead}}
2018/19 Patrick Dorganhttps://www.lawsociety.ie/globalassets/documents/gazette/gazette-pdfs/gazette-2019/may-2019-gazette.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=September 2022}}
2019/20 Michele O'Boylehttps://www.lawsociety.ie/globalassets/documents/gazette/gazette-pdfs/gazette-2020/may-2020-gazette.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=September 2022}}{{cite web |url=https://www.lawsociety.ie/About-Us/Who-we-are/law-society-Council/President/ |title=President |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807121106/https://www.lawsociety.ie/About-Us/Who-we-are/law-society-Council/President/ |archive-date=7 August 2020 |url-status=dead}}
2020/21 James Cahill
2021/22 Michelle Ní Longáin{{cite web | url=https://www.lawsociety.ie/About-Us/Who-we-are/law-society-Council/President | title=Law Society President }}}}{{sfn|Hogan|Hall|2002|p=226–227}}
2022/23 Maura Derivan{{cite web | url=https://www.lawsociety.ie/news/Media/Press-Releases/maura-derivan-appointed-152nd-president-of-the-law-society-of-ireland#:~:text=Press%20Releases-,Maura%20Derivan%20appointed%20152nd%20President%20of%20the%20Law%20Society%20of,serve%20as%20Law%20Society%20President | title=Law Society of Ireland }}
2023/24 Barry MacCarthy{{cite web | url=https://www.lawsociety.ie/news/Media/Press-Releases/barry-maccarthy-becomes-the-153rd-solicitor-to-serve-as-law-society-president2/#:~:text=Venue%20Hire-,Barry%20MacCarthy%20becomes%20the%20153rd%20solicitor%20to%20serve%20as%20Law,from%20Friday%2010%20November%202023 | title=Law Society of Ireland }}
2024/25 Eamon Harrington{{cite web | url=https://www.irishlegal.com/articles/eamon-harrington-elected-president-of-law-society-of-ireland | title=Eamon Harrington elected president of Law Society of Ireland | date=11 November 2024 }}

Notable solicitors

File:Dorothea Heron graduating in 1921.jpg

Dorothea Heron was the first woman to be admitted to the roll of solicitors in Ireland, on 17 April 1923.{{cite web |title=A Trinity of Women: The First Women Solicitors in Ireland |work= First 100 Years |date= 13 June 2018 |url=https://first100years.org.uk/a-trinity-of-women-the-first-women-solicitors-in-ireland/}}{{Cite web |title=Heron, (Mary) Dorothea {{!}} Dictionary of Irish Biography |url=https://www.dib.ie/biography/heron-mary-dorothea-a10253 |access-date=2022-10-13 |website=www.dib.ie}} Having commenced her studies prior to the partition of Ireland, she simultaneously qualified to practice on both sides of the newly created border. She did conveyancing work in her uncle's practice in Belfast but didn't take out practising certificates, as was common for non-court-going solicitors at the time.{{cite web |title=The first triumvirate |url=https://www.lawsociety.ie/gazette/in-depth/the-first-triumvirate/ |website=www.lawsociety.ie}}{{cite web |title=The final frontier |url=https://www.lawsociety.ie/gazette/in-depth/the-final-frontier/ |website=www.lawsociety.ie}}

Arms

{{Infobox COA wide

|escutcheon = Azure a harp Or stringed Argent on a chief Ermine a pale Gules charged with an Imperial crown Proper.

|crest = A figure of justice Proper.

|supporters = Two Irish wolf hounds Or.

|torse = Of the colours.

|motto = Veritas Vincit

|mantling = Gules doubled Argent.

|notes = Granted 17 June 1912 by Nevile Rodwell Wilkinson, Ulster King of Arms.{{cite web|url=https://catalogue.nli.ie/Record/vtls000511733/StaffViewMARC#tabnav |title=Grants and Confirmations of Arms Vol. K |publisher=National Library of Ireland |accessdate=25 June 2022 |page=413}}}}

References

Sources

{{cite book|editor1-first=Daire|editor1-last=Hogan|editor2-first=Eamonn G.|editor2-last=Hall|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4m8VAQAAIAAJ|title=The Law Society of Ireland, 1852-2002: Portrait of a Profession|year=2002|publisher=Four Courts Press|location=Dublin|isbn=1-85182-695-5}}