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Two-thirds of 2024 trainee intake is female

Speaking at a Law Society event to mark International Women’s Day (5 March), President Eamon Harrington said that women had been in the majority of practising solicitors in Ireland for some time – holding steady at 54%.

Less progress is shown, however, in leadership roles, where 37% of partners are women, he said at the gathering in House on Dublin’s Leeson Street.

Growing sector

“Two-thirds of in-house solicitors are women, so the picture is different for this growing sector,” the president continued.

“We see similar trends at the Law Society’s Law School. Trainee solicitors are not only at a record high, women represent a significant majority – again, at two-thirds of the 2024 intake.

“Even greater still, 74% of PPC Hybrid trainees are women. Now in its sixth cycle, the flexible hybrid offering clearly demonstrates the importance of diversifying training pathways,” he said.

The Law Society considered the hybrid pathway one of its top strategic priorities, the president said.

Since 2018, 600 solicitors had participated in the Law Society’s Women in Leadership programme, to mentor women wanting to advance their legal career to a senior level, he said.