Ireland’s Legal Services Regulatory Authority has published its seventh annual Pathways to the Professions report, recording growth in both entry to professional training and qualification as a solicitor or barrister during 2025. The figures show that 581 trainee solicitors and 139 student barristers began professional training, increases of 7 per cent and 16 per cent…
Ireland to host new international arbitration hub
Ireland has been selected to host a new international arbitration hub, ICDR Ireland, as part of a wider effort to strengthen its position in cross-border dispute resolution. Announced by the Irish government together with the American Arbitration Association-International Centre for Dispute Resolution, the hub will handle international commercial arbitration matters across Europe, the Middle East…
Law Society of Ireland provides additional grants for small practices
On 29 August 2025, the Law Society announced an additional round of funding under its Small Practice Traineeship Grant Scheme, providing a further €25,000 grant to support small legal practices outside Ireland’s major cities in hiring a trainee solicitor. The initiative aims to strengthen smaller firms, ease financial barriers, and enable aspiring solicitors to train…
Ireland’s Legal Services Regulatory Authority publishes annual pathways report on admissions to legal professions 2024
The Legal Services Regulatory Authority of Ireland (LSRA) has published its Pathways to the Professions 2024 report in July 2025, 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…
Legal Services Regulatory Authority of Ireland publishes legal partnerships draft regulations
The Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) of Ireland is on the brink of introducing a new regulatory framework tailored for legal partnerships, marking a significant evolution in the structure for delivering legal services. This innovative framework is designed to support two types of partnerships: solicitor-barrister and barrister-only, with each configuration mandating the inclusion of at…
Implementation of the European Artificial Intelligence Act in Ireland
The Law Society of Ireland has made a submission to the Irish Government on how it believes the European Artificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) should be implemented in Ireland. The EU’s AI Act, which is designed to regulate and foster responsible AI development, officially came into force on August 1, 2024. The AI Act classifies…
Legal Services Regulatory Authority of Ireland to introduce legal partnerships
The Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) of Ireland plans to introduce legal partnerships in the autumn of 2024, providing a new business structure that will allow barristers, or barristers and solicitors, to form partnerships. This initiative, enabled by the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 and subsequent amendments, aims to modernise the delivery of legal services…
LSRA open consultation on legal partnerships draft resolution
The Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) has initiated a month-long consultation on the draft regulatory framework for new legal partnerships. This framework enables partnerships between solicitors and barristers, allowing them to offer legal services jointly, a development made possible by amendments to the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 in July 2023. These partnerships may operate…
JP McDowell, Managing Partner at Fieldfisher Ireland, calls for more power to regulators
JP McDowell, managing partner of Fieldfisher in Ireland, a leading international law firm representing various Irish professional regulators, has advocated for granting more regulatory bodies the authority to conduct searches, seize documents, and bring prosecutions. McDowell highlighted the importance of transparency in regulatory processes and welcomed recent scrutiny of regulatory practices. He emphasized the need…
Legal Services Regulatory Authority of Ireland welcomes passage of the Courts and Civil Law Bill 2023
The Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) of Ireland has welcomed the passage of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2023, which contains a range of reforms including amendments to the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015. The amendments are related to the levy on legal practitioners and aim to simplify the funding model for…