It is professional misconduct and a criminal offence for a solicitor (other than a solicitor in the full-time service of the State) to practise without a practising certificate. A solicitor shall be deemed to practise as a solicitor if he or she engages in the provision of legal services. ‘Legal services’ are services of a legal or financial nature provided by a solicitor arising from that solicitor’s practice as a solicitor.

It should be noted that, as set out in the practice note ‘Prohibition on practising as a solicitor without a practising certificate: solicitors cannot be “legal executives” or “paralegals”’, as published in the Gazette in July 2009 and again in February 2012, it is not permissible for a firm to classify a solicitor employed by a firm as a ‘legal executive’ or ‘paralegal’ with a view to avoiding the requirement to hold a practising certificate, if the solicitor is engaged in the provision of legal services.

The actions that can be taken against a solicitor found to be practising without a practising certificate include a referral to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal, an application to the High Court, and a report to An Garda Síochána.

Practising certificate application forms

Application forms for solicitors in private practice will be forwarded to the principal or the managing partner in each practice, rather than each solicitor. Please note that practising certificate application forms and the practising certificate fees will not be available until after 17 December 2013, as both must be approved by Council at its December meeting.

When you must apply

A practising certificate must be applied for on or before 1 February in each year in order to be dated 1 January of that year and thereby operate as a qualification to practise from the commencement of the year. It is therefore a legal requirement for a practising solicitor to deliver, or cause to be delivered, to the Registrar of Solicitors, on or before 1 February 2014, an application in the prescribed form correctly completed and signed by the applicant solicitor personally, together with the appropriate fee. The onus is on each solicitor to ensure that his or her application form and fee is delivered on or before 1 February 2013. Applications should be delivered to the Regulation Department of the Society at George’s Court, George’s Lane, Dublin 7; DX 1025. It should be noted that 1 February 2014 falls on a Saturday.

Please note that any incorrectly completed application forms or applications without full payment will be considered to be incomplete applications, cannot be processed, and will be returned. Therefore, solicitors are strongly advised to read and take full account of the practising certificate application form guidelines when completing the form.

What happens if you apply late?

Any applications for practising certificates that are received after 1 February 2014 will result in the practising certificate being dated the date of actual receipt by the Registrar of Solicitors, rather than 1 January 2014. There is no legal power to allow any period of grace under any circumstances whatsoever.

Please note that, as mentioned above, you cannot provide legal services as a solicitor without a practising certificate in force. Therefore, solicitors whose practising certificates application forms are received after 1 February 2014 and whose practising certificates are therefore dated after 1 February 2014, who have provided legal services before that date, are advised to make an application to the President of the High Court to have their practising certificates backdated to 1 January 2014.

The Regulation of Practice Committee is the regulatory committee of the Society that has responsibility for supervising compliance with practising certificate requirements. A special meeting of the committee will be held on a date after 1 February 2014, to be decided at a later date, to consider any late or unresolved applications for practising certificates. At this meeting, any practising solicitors who have not applied by the date of the meeting for a practising certificate will be considered for referral forthwith to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and will be informed that the Society reserves the right to take proceedings for an order under section 18 of the Solicitors (Amendment) Act 2002 to prevent them from practising illegally.

If you are an employed solicitor

Solicitors who are employed should note that it is the statutory obligation of every solicitor who requires a practising certificate to ensure that he or she has a practising certificate in force from the commencement of the year. Employed solicitors cannot absolve themselves from this responsibility by relying on their employers to procure their practising certificates. However, it is the Society’s recommendation that all employers should pay for the practising certificate of solicitors employed by them. It should be noted that the practising certificate remains the property of the solicitor, regardless of who has paid for the practising certificate.

Some of your details are already on the application form

The practising certificate application forms will be issued with certain information relating to each solicitor’s practice already completed. Such information will include the relevant fees due by each solicitor, including allowance for solicitors of 70 years or over, as they will not be covered under the provisions of the Solicitors’ Group Life Scheme.

Payment by electronic funds transfer (EFT)

All practising certificate application forms sent out will include an EFT payment form. Any solicitor wishing to pay the practising certificate fee by EFT must complete and return the EFT payment form with their practising certificate application form. Failure to do so will result in the application form being returned as incomplete.

Each EFT payment must have an easily identifiable specific reference, such as the firm or company name, the solicitor’s name, or the solicitor’s number. General references such as ‘Law Society’ or ‘practising certificate’ will not be accepted and may result in a significant delay in the issuing of the practising certificate. The payment reference used must be included in the EFT form. Failure to include this information will result in the application form being returned as incomplete.

Law Directory 2014

It is intended that the Law Directory 2014 will note all solicitors who have been issued with a practising certificate by 21 February 2014. Practising certificates can only be issued following receipt of a properly completed application form together with full payment, with no outstanding queries raised thereon. It should be noted that only those solicitors with practising certificates issued by 21 February 2014 will be included in the Law Directory, not every solicitor who has submitted an application form by 21 February 2014.

Therefore, in order to ensure that your practising certificate issues by 21 February 2014 to enable you to be included in the Law Directory, you should ensure that the application form you return to the Society is completed correctly and includes full payment of fees due. If the form is not completed correctly, or fees have not been paid in full, it will be necessary for the Society to return the form, which may result in delaying the issue of your practising certificate, despite the fact that you had applied for the practising certificate prior to 21 February 2014.

The details of any solicitor whose practising certificate issues after 21 February 2014 will not be included in the Law Directory, but will be included in the ‘Find a Solicitor’ search facility on the Society’s website, provided the solicitor is a practising solicitor. A practising solicitor is a solicitor with a current practising certificate and either professional indemnity insurance in place or an exemption from holding professional indemnity insurance as a solicitor employee of a non-solicitor employer.

What can you access on the website (www.lawsociety.ie)?

A blank, editable application form will be available in the members’ area of the Law Society’s website soon after 17 December 2013, which can be completed online prior to printing a copy for signing and returning to the Society with the appropriate fee. This area is accessible using your username and password. If you require assistance, please visit www.lawsociety.ie/help. In addition, you may request a form to be emailed to you by emailing pc@lawsociety.ie.

If you did not hold a practising certificate for 2013

If you did not hold a practising certificate for 2013 and apply for a practising certificate in 2014, you may be required to make a ‘section 61’ application, in accordance with section 49 of the Solicitors Act 1954 as substituted by section 61 of the Solicitors (Amendment) Act 1994, setting out in writing how you have kept up to date with legal matters since you were last issued with a practising certificate. Further information on section 61 applications will be available in the practising certificate application guidance notes.

Change of practising status

If you held a practising certificate in 2013 and do not intend to practise for some or all of 2014, including the following situations, you should notify the Society in writing with the relevant details before 1 February 2014:

• You recently ceased practice or are intending to cease practice in the coming year,
• You will not be practising in 2014 for any reason, including unemployment, career break, change of career, emigration, sick leave or maternity leave,
• You will not be providing legal services – and will therefore not be applying for a practising certificate – until after 1 February 2014 for any reason, including unemployment, career break, sick leave and maternity leave.

You should provide the Society with a current correspondence address and email address to allow the Society to communicate with you while you are not practising.

If there is any change in your practising status during the year, you should immediately notify the Society in writing with the relevant information to ensure that your practising status is up to date.

Change of practice

If you have changed firms during the year and have not previously notified the Society in writing, you must do so immediately, in accordance with the provisions of section 81 of the Solicitors Act 1954. You should include the date you left your former practice and the date you joined your new firm, together with the name and address of the new firm.

Failure to provide this information before 17 December 2013 may result in your practising certificate application and information being sent to your former practice, as the Society will not have your up-to-date contact information.

Acknowledgment of application forms

Please note that it is not the Society’s policy to acknowledge receipt of application forms. If in doubt that your application form will arrive on time, or at all, send by recorded post, tracked DX or courier.

Duplicate practising certificate

Please note that there is a fee of €50 in respect of each duplicate practising certificate issued for any purpose.

John Elliot,
Registrar of Solicitors and Director of Regulation