Northern Ireland solicitors urged to leave ‘Dear Sirs’ behind
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Northern Ireland solicitors have been encouraged to use gender-inclusive alternatives to the salutation “Dear Sirs”.
The Law Society of Northern Ireland’s human rights and equality committee said solicitors should drop the “outdated and non-inclusive practice” in favour of alternatives such as “Dear Colleague”.
Alternatively, letters can be addressed to a person’s title — e.g. “Dear Partner” — or “Dear Mr/Ms [Surname]”, provided that “the chosen pronoun/other title of the individual is known”, it said.
The advice was included in the committee’s most recent bulletin.
In 2020, the Law Society of Ireland publicly announced that it would no longer use “Dear Sirs” as a salutation.
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