How to become a solicitor in Ireland

The Law Society is the educational, representative and regulatory body of the solicitors' profession in Ireland. It is located in Blackhall Place in Dublin 8 so you will hear students referring to it colloquially as ‘Blackhall Place’.

While there are no subject-specific pre-requisites to gain entry to the Law Society’s solicitor training course, graduates who wish to qualify as a solicitor must first pass an entrance examination, also known as the Final Examination - First Part (FE-1).

Further information

For further information on qualifying as a solicitor please contact The Law Society of Ireland, 
Blackhall Place, Dublin 7; http://www.lawsociety.ie

https://www.lawsociety.ie/Public/Become-a-Solicitor/

How to become a barrister in Ireland

Graduates (with approved law degrees) who would like to practise as a barrister must complete the Barrister-at-Law degree course in the Honorable Society of the King’s Inns. Applicants for this degree must first have passed certain ‘core subjects’ in their law degrees and must pass an entrance examination.

For further information relating to entry requirements, examinations, and details on becoming a Barrister-at-Law, students should contact The Honorable Society of the King’s Inns, Henrietta Street, Dublin 1. http://www.kingsinns.ie 

Telephone (01) 874 4840; Fax (01) 872 6038; Email: info@kingsinns.ie

For information on practising at the Bar consult the Bar Council of Ireland, Four Courts, Dublin 7. www.lawlibrary.ie. Telephone: (0 1) 817 5000, Fax:  (01) 872 0455, Email: barcouncil@lawlibrary.ie.

How to become a solicitor in England and Wales

Students who wish to train as a solicitor in England and Wales must apply to one of the Colleges offering a Legal Practice Course (LPC). For Legal Practice Course providers see: https://www.sra.org.uk/become-solicitor/legal-practice-course-route/lpc/lpc-course-providers/ 

Each LPC/CPE course provider will adjudicate to what extent your law degree will receive exemptions.  There is no longer a central approval of Irish law degrees by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

If you decide to have your degree recognised in England and Wales, you will be requested to show evidence that you meet the legal education requirements of the SRA, in other words, you need to show “equivalent means”:

“Equivalent means”

Regulation 2.2 of the Training Regulations 2014 allows us to recognise that the knowledge and skills outcomes (and the standard at which they must be acquired) may have been achieved by an individual through other assessed learning and work-based learning. Where this is the case, we may grant exemption from all or part of the academic or vocational stages.”

Necessary documents to become a solicitor in England and Wales

In order to satisfy this test and gain exemptions for some or all of the areas of law, you may be required to present any or all of the following:

• Original degree parchment
• Original transcript of results
• *Module descriptors for the modules you are presenting for assessment correct for the year you studied them (i.e. it is not adequate to present a module descriptor for LW1153 from 2006/7 if you registered for it in 2004/5).
• *Reading lists for each module presented for exemption
• *The syllabus of each module presented for exemption

 *It is your responsibility to retain copies of these when they are distributed while you are taking the module, as tracking down this documentation at a later date may not be possible.  Therefore you are advised to keep copies, be they hard or soft copy, in case you need to refer to them in the future. These are indicative requirements only and depending on the course provider you may be required to provide additional information.

If you require assistance in making an application please contact your Programme Director. 

***Please note***

The system in England and Wales is changing. From autumn 2021,  there will be a single, national licensing examination that all prospective solicitors will take before qualifying. We will update this page with further information shortly, but in the meantime you can find out more at https://www.sra.org.uk/sra/policy/sqe/solicitor-persona/.

How to become a lawyer in the US with an Irish law degree

Please note that the regulation of access to sit a state bar exam is conducted on a state by state basis in the United States. Therefore if you wished to take the California Bar Exam you may be required to take additional modules or credits at a US law school. Having passed the New York State Bar you may be eligible to sit other state Bar exams. For example, once you have passed the New York State Bar you are entitled to practise in Washington D.C. The New York State Bar Exam has been sat by a large number of our graduates over the years.  Each application is taken on its own merit and the application process can be long and involved.  Interested graduates should study fully Section 520.6 of the rules for the Court of Appeals for the Admission of Attorneys and Counselors at Law and their information on the eligibility of Foreign Legal Study. 

The Irish American Bar Association of New York, http://www.iabany.org, is a very good source of relevant information.  Established in 1987, the IABANY is a professional organisation dedicated to connecting, serving and celebrating New York’s legal professionals who are Irish born, of Irish heritage or simply interested in all things Irish.  Their website contains advice for Irish law graduates contemplating a US legal career. 

How to become a lawyer in Canada with an Irish law degree

The National Committee on Accreditation (NCA) is a committee working under the National Requirements of the Federation of Law Societies of Canada. The assessment of whether or not foreign law graduates can be accredited in Canada is carried out exclusively by this institution. The NCA will assess the legal qualifications you have obtained outside of Canada, taking into account your educational and professional backgrounds. After reviewing your application, the NCA will issue you with an assessment result that lists any subjects and/or legal education that you are required to undertake to ensure that your legal knowledge and skills are comparable to that of someone who got their law degree through an approved Canadian law school program.

For up-to-date information on the NCA Certificate of Qualification – including requirements and exam schedules – and to apply, visit: https://nca.legal/process/

How to practice law in the European Union with an Irish law degree?

Most commonly you can practice law in other countries of the European Union with a degree from University College Cork or other Irish universities in two steps:

1. Qualify as either a Solicitor or Barrister in Ireland
2. Apply for recognition of this qualification to the regulatory body for legal practice in the relevant member state.

If you wish to practise as a lawyer in a member state of the European Union there are two relevant Directives on the recognition of professional qualifications across the EU. Usually, your first step would be to get a professional qualification as described above and qualify as either a Solicitor or Barrister in Ireland. Then you can apply for recognition of this qualification to the regulatory body for legal practice in the relevant member state. The following advice from the EU available at the link below will be a starting point. This allows you to translate your Irish qualification for a particular member state.

https://ec.europa.eu/growth/single-market/services/free-movement-professionals/qualifications-recognition_en

Changes in regulation

Please note: The information on this page is intended as a guide only and is subject to change. Students interested in pursuing the career paths briefly described above are advised strongly to contact the appropriate bodies to verify and obtain further up to date information. Students are also advised strongly to follow developments in relation to the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015, which may bring significant changes in the future.  This is not an exhaustive list of all of your career options.