The latest stats on the top 20 firms and in-house teams reveal growth in demand for legal services and talent. A&L Goodbody leads PC numbers, female admissions are up to 60%, while in-house solicitors comprise 25% of the profession. Mark Garrett provides some insights

Like every other part of the Irish business environment, the past three years have been challenging for legal firms.

The post-pandemic economic performance of the country has continued to improve, despite entering a technical recession in the final quarter of 2023.

However, quantifying the level of demand for the services of practising solicitors on an annual basis poses challenges, as there is no one source that explicitly captures this data.

In the past, Evelyn Partners has completed annual surveys of law firms, from which demand levels could be inferred. The 2022/23 survey, however, is not scheduled to take place until March 2024 and so other data sources must be used.

According to the SOLAS National Skills Bulletin for 2023 (data for 2022), average annual employment in the judges, solicitors, barristers, and related professionals group has declined for the second consecutive year, with some 13,400 employed.

According to the 2023 bulletin: “Employment levels have declined annually since 2020 for this occupation, resulting in a negative growth rate for the five-year annual average.”

Main challenges

The most recent annual survey of law firms from Evelyn Partners for 2021/22 highlighted challenges related to the economy and inflation, recruitment, the retention of staff, and maintaining profitability.

While there have been marked improvements in the post-pandemic economic performance and levels of inflation, it is likely that these challenges continued to burden legal businesses into 2023.

Despite these challenges, a recent survey carried out by the Law Society (Survey of the Profession – Overview of Key Findings, July 2023) found that solicitors are generally upbeat about the profession, particularly those working in large firms and in-house in the private and public sectors.

In all, 41% were optimistic about the profession’s future, while 31% were neutral. The situation is not consistent across urban and rural areas, however, with community-based services and smaller and sole partner-operated firms outside of Dublin more affected by the challenges already mentioned.

The picture from new admissions to the Roll of Solicitors paints a largely positive picture for the profession overall, with 772 new solicitors admitted in 2023 – a 50% increase on the 515 in 2022. A total of 548 trainees were admitted – the highest figure since 2011.

Admissions from England and Wales stood at 158 (an increase of 18% from the 134 in 2022). Transferring barrister numbers fell from 12 in 2022 to eight in 2023.

There were 27 foreign-lawyer admissions in 2023 – 19 of whom came from common-law states, with the remaining eight being drawn from six EU countries. (This is an increase from the 22 foreign lawyers admitted in 2022.)
In terms of gender, 2023 saw a notable increase in female admissions – from 56% in 2022 to 60% in 2023.

One of the key factors seems to be that the distortion effect of Brexit is declining. While admissions over the last decade and more have shown a significantly higher number of women qualifying as solicitors, this has yet to be fully reflected in the profession overall.

Total PC numbers

A total of 11,954 practising certificates (PCs) were issued throughout 2023. On 31 December 2023, the Law Society’s records indicated that 11,871 PCs were in place.

This follows the surrender of 80 PCs throughout 2023, the suspension of one solicitor who was holding a PC, and two solicitors holding a PC noted as deceased.

In all, 3,239 solicitors were noted on the Roll in 2023 and recorded as working ‘in house’. Of these, 2,688 held a PC on 31 December 2023.

A total of 476 solicitors on the Roll were classified as being in the full-time service of the State in 2023.

Top 20 and in-house

The table below outlines the number of solicitors listed on the Law Society’s records connected to a firm or in-house team and holding a PC on 31 December in each of the last three years.

In-house solicitors, in both the public and private sectors, now make up over 25% of the profession, and they are well represented in the top 20 by the Chief State Solicitor’s Office, the Legal Aid Board, the Office of the DPP, Allied Irish Banks, and the Central Bank of Ireland.

Struck off the Roll

Two solicitors were struck off the Roll in 2023 – one for breaches of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations, including the misappropriation of client funds and breaches of the Anti-Money-Laundering Regulations, and another for breaches of the Solicitors Accounts Regulations, including the misappropriation of client funds.

It is likely, given emerging trends identified in recent Evelyn Partner surveys, that demand for the services of practising solicitors in 2023 remained robust, with firm revenues having increased in each of 2021 and 2022, along with profit levels (though not to the same extent). It will be very interesting to see the findings of the Evelyn Partners survey for 2023.

Mark Garrett is Director General of the Law Society of Ireland