Michelle Ní Longáin

An employment, equality and administrative law specialist, Ms Ní Longáin becomes the 151st president of the Law Society and the fifth woman to serve in the role. She will serve a one-year term until November 2022.

She said: “It is a privilege to serve as president of the Law Society, and as the fifth woman to lead the Irish solicitors’ profession, this too is a privilege.”

“I am particularly mindful of the importance of representation for our future female legal leaders and look forward to building upon the progress made in this area by my predecessors.”

Ms Ní Longáin is a senior partner at ByrneWallace. She heads the firm’s public sector group, is compliance partner and is a partner in the employment law team. She advises public and private sector clients, primarily employers, on complex areas of employment, equality and administrative law.

A graduate of Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), she originally qualified as a solicitor in Northern Ireland in 1994. She moved to England in 1996 and became a solicitor there, before returning to Ireland in 1999 and joining ByrneWallace.

She has been a member of the Law Society Council since 2004 and was also a member of the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland from 2007 to 2013. She has chaired the Law Society’s education and finance committees, audit subcommittee and gender equality, diversity and inclusion task force.

Outlining core priorities for her term in office, Ms Ní Longáin highlighted a focus on continuing to progress gender equality, diversity and inclusion in the solicitors’ profession.

She said: “Looking ahead, we know that the future of this profession is more diverse and more inclusive at all career stages. A key priority for me over the coming year is promoting gender equality, diversity, inclusion and increased access to the profession, including at leadership levels. I believe that this is very important to ensure that there are more diverse voices in the room.

“As chairperson of the Law Society’s Gender Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Task Force, I have worked with my colleagues to position diversity as a cornerstone of the profession. Significant progress has been made in recent years and I am committed to driving this agenda forward during the next 12 months.”

She added: “Health and wellbeing is another key area I am committed to enhancing during my term. It is vital that our members are empowered to access available supports that will help to protect their personal mental health and wellbeing.

“How the Law Society responds to the urgent priority of climate justice will also be an important focus of mine during the year ahead. We will focus on supporting our members to help them become more sustainable in their practices.

“Society and the economy have been dealing with extensive challenges during the past 18 months. Leading the profession through these challenges, business recovery and what follows will be a priority for me.”