The Law Society has welcomed a record 13,800 students from 154 schools nationwide for its new Transition Year (TY) Law Module since its launch in December 2022.

This bespoke four-week online programme gives students an opportunity to explore a future career as a solicitor and learn how the law is relevant to their daily lives.

Through online presentations and legal lessons, students learn from a broad range of material covering:

• Climate justice,
• Criminal law and employment law,
• Human-rights practice,
• Juvenile justice, and
• Children’s courts.

The ease of access and flexibility of the programme has contributed to its success in its first year. Teachers may access video presentations and information booklets, released over the four weeks, when it suits the school’s timetable.

Students may opt to study alone or as part of a group.

Legal ambitions

Alison Treacy Traynor (15) a TY student at the Institute of Education, participated and now has ambitions to become a solicitor.

“The TY Law Module has definitely influenced my future career options as it taught me so much more about the life of a solicitor and changed any assumptions I had about that career path.

“As for my legal ambitions, I would love to study law in college and go on to be a solicitor or a barrister; however, after this course I definitely think I am leaning towards a career as a solicitor!

“My favourite part of the course was Judge John O’Connor’s presentation on juvenile justice because it was super interesting to hear about the law and the courts and how it affects people my age.

“I found how he talked about the developmental psychology studies used to curate the juvenile justice system very interesting.

“I also thought that solicitor Danielle O’Sullivan’s presentation on arrest and detention was really interesting because she made a point of breaking down the processes of arrest and detention to show how it differs from the misconceptions of it in society.

“I would highly recommend the course to other students because it is not only brilliant for those students who aspire to become a solicitor, but also great for those unsure of what they would like to do. It really simplified and made sense of the role a solicitor has, and the whole law system in Ireland, so I think in that regard it is a really great resource for students.”

Demand-driven legal education

Chair of the Law Society’s Education Committee, Richard Hammond SC, said: “The Law Society is proud to have been able to channel our world-leading educational IT facilities and breadth of legal expertise into an accessible, inspiring, and age-appropriate resource for so many students across Ireland.

“We look forward to building on the success of the inaugural TY Law Module in future years.

“Due to exceptional demand, the Law Society plans to run the programme on an annual basis. This new course is one of the many Law Society Public Legal Initiatives that increase access to legal education for schools, including our annual Massive Online Open Courses, Solicitors of the Future, Street Law, the Gráinne O’Neill Memorial Legal Essay Competition, and the Legal Ambitions Summer School.

“We encourage schools to learn more and participate in future legal-education programmes,” Richard Hammond SC said.