Law Society: Legal profession ‘in a boom - or close to one’

The president of the Law Society of Ireland has said the country’s legal profession is “in a boom - or close to a boom anyway”.

Speaking at yesterday’s Parchment ceremony, president Stuart Gilhooly said newly qualified solicitor were “lucky” to be coming in to the profession in such a healthy period, The Irish Times reports.

Mr Gilhooly said: “I saw tough times in the law profession – you guys haven’t worked through the tough times yet, 2008 and 2009 were really hard in our profession and a lot of our profession really struggled to survive but we did. We made it work.

“The country is in a much better state, we’re back in Dublin. We’re in a boom - or close to a boom anyway - and even in the country things are picking up. You’re lucky to be coming to the profession when you are.”

At his final Parchment ceremony before completing his presidential term, Mr Gilhooly also advised new solicitors to “pick up the phone” instead of relying on email, and encouraged them to “get on with each other”.

He also spoke about the disruptive impact that artificial intelligence will have, but his confidence that the legal profession will adapt.

Also speaking at the ceremony, the Chief Justice of Ireland, Mr Justice Frank Clarke, announced plans from next September to offer 13-month contracts to newly qualified solicitors to work as judicial assistants in the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal.

He said: “The pay won’t be great but the opportunities will be great and will provide a great opportunity to see how these courts operate.”