AI cannot replace human empathy – judge

Speaking at a parchment ceremony for newly qualified solicitors at Blackhall Place (28 May), Law Society President Rosemarie Loftus said that the law was an endlessly interesting career that should never be taken for granted.

Lawyers had a vital role in civic society and could make a difference in communities, society, business, and public life, she said.

While opportunities for solicitors were plentiful, smaller community-based legal practices faced challenges, the president said.

“The legal profession, like many others, is heavily concentrated in Dublin,” she commented, warning of emerging legal deserts in rural communities which affects access to justice.

The flat fee being introduced for criminal legal-aid work caused the Law Society great concern, the president said.

“The fair, independent, and efficient administration of law is central to our democracy. Unfortunately, the rule of law, access to justice, and a free and open society cannot be taken for granted,” she said.

The Law Society was at the forefront in meeting these challenges, she said, and had spent a long time thinking about the future of the legal system.

She urged the newly qualified solicitors to have a balanced life outside of work, and to take care of their mental health.

Guest speaker Mr Justice Oisin Quinn of the High Court said that generative AI was as transformative as the invention of fire, or the wheel.

Human skills

In light of this, he urged the new solicitors to enhance their human skills, such as empathy, understanding, and instinct, which AI could not replicate, to excel at their careers, and to contribute effectively to the administration of justice.

“Always be learning,” he advised the newly qualified solicitors. 

Speaker Ciaran Ahern TD (Labour, Dublin South West), a former ALG employment-law solicitor, stated that the newly qualified solicitors should use their expertise for social impact, and address issues such as homelessness and climate change.

The roles of both solicitor and politician had a public service function, he added, in helping people, advocating, and navigating complex bureaucracies.

Deal-making 

The skills of deal-making and negotiation applied to both spheres, he added, as well and on-and off-the-record conversations, and the idealistic, argumentative nature of the participants.

“Law, like politics, must be grounded in public service,” he said.

“There is a lot of collegiality in both careers, and this goes a long way towards getting results for those who are represented,” he added.

He concluded by congratulating the new solicitors and expressing the hope that they would follow in the long line of public-minded lawyers.

TUD law student Aoife Hegarty was awarded the Law Society Human Rights Committee essay prize at the ceremony.

Gaeilgeoir Aoife, (main picture, and small picture, with her mother Frances), from Ranelagh in Dublin 6, wins a paid internship with A&L Goodbody LLP for the month of June.

NQs from Eversheds Sutherland LLP, Flynn O’Driscoll LLP, McCann FitzgGerald LLP and Arthur Cox LLP were all represented at the parchment ceremony.

Prize-winners

Overend Scholarship Final Examination highest marks achieved First Part 2025:

• Bailey Lane,

Overall Prize Professional Practice Course 2022:

• Emma Kennedy (Arthur Cox LLP],

Law Society Business Law Prize Professional Practice Course 2022:

• Emma Kennedy [Arthur Cox LLP],

Dispute Resolution Prize first place: Professional Practice Course 2022,

• Emma Kennedy [Arthur Cox LLP],

Dispute Resolution Prize second place: Professional Practice Course 2022

• Rory Purcell [McCann FitzGerald LLP].

• For more photos of the parchment ceremony, see the Gazette.ie gallery page.