On the rise

A practising certificate (PC) must be issued annually for a solicitor to offer legal services to the public. The payment by a firm for a solicitor’s PC thus represents a solid and objective measure to analyse changes within the profession, and to indicate the size of firms.

At this time every year, the Law Society publishes statistics for the number of PCs issued to solicitors. Overall, 10,461 PCs were issued by the Society as of 31 December 2017. This represents a 3.5% increase on the 2016 figure of 10,098.

The largest firms

The Society also publishes annual statistics on the 20 largest firms operating within the State. At the end of 2017, a total of 2,525 PC holders were working within these firms, marking a 3.4% increase. With 293 practising solicitors, A&L Goodbody overtook Arthur Cox to become the largest firm in the State at year-end.

Ken Murphy is the director general of the Law Society. Writing for the Gazette, he outlines some other changes in the industry, including figures for British-based solicitors taking out PCs.

• Read the full article in the Jan / Feb 2018 Gazette

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