The Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) has published its Pathways to the Professions 2024 report, detailing admissions to the solicitor and barrister professions and trends in training and practice. The report shows a slight decline in new entrants but continued growth in overall numbers, with 12,175 practising solicitors and 3,071 practising barristers at year-end 2024 — the highest solicitor total in a decade.
In 2024, 542 trainee solicitors enrolled on the Law Society’s Professional Practice Course (PPC), down 3% from 2023. Of these, 18% undertook the part-time PPC Hybrid, reflecting increasing demand for flexible training. Most trainees (91%) were aged 30 or under, 83% had a law degree, and 83% secured training contracts in Dublin. Nearly two-thirds trained in one of Ireland’s top 20 firms.
For barristers, 120 students started the King’s Inns Barrister-at-Law course, with part-time students outnumbering full-time. A total of 136 were called to the Bar (down 17% from 2023), and 82 began pupillage, up from 72 in the previous year.
The report, aligned with LSRA’s Breaking Down Barriers initiative, includes new data on flexible training routes and access programmes by professional bodies to improve diversity. It notes Dublin’s continued dominance in the legal market and highlights recruitment and retention challenges outside the capital. While economic growth has buoyed demand for legal services, it has also driven competition for talent and higher client fees.
The findings underscore the role of flexible pathways in widening access to the profession, alongside persistent regional disparities in legal service provision.