Effects of Brexit on legal profession wane as new arrangements come into place

The number of solicitors who qualified in England and Wales and who have applied to practice in Ireland has dropped by more than half in two years.

In 2019 more than three-quarters (77 per cent) of those included on the Law Society roll to practice in Ireland had qualified as solicitors in England and Wales, with Law Society-qualified trainees comprising 18 per cent. This reflected a post-Brexit rush with solicitors anxious to have the right to continue practising in the EU after the United Kingdom left the bloc.

The figure for England and Wales dropped to 32 per cent last year, with the proportion of Law Society-qualified trainees rising to 58 per cent, according to the Legal Services Regulatory Authority’s annual report, Pathways to the Professions 2021.

The drop-off in solicitors joining the roll in response to Brexit may be accounted for by a reciprocal arrangement between the Law Society and the Solicitors Regulation Authority in England and Wales which came into force in April of last year. Under the reinstated arrangements, solicitors admitted in England and Wales can apply to go on the Irish roll of solicitors without having to sit additional examinations.

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Likewise, Irish-qualified solicitors can add their names to the roll of solicitors in England and Wales without having to sit an exam.

The number of solicitors with practising certificates fell for the second year in a row and stood at 11,413 on December 31st last, a reduction of 441 (4 per cent) on 2020.

Irish jurisdiction

The Law Society reported last year that the fall-off was down to the end of a practice where large international law firms, with no establishment in the Irish jurisdiction, took Irish practising certificates for their solicitors as a byproduct of Brexit. That arrangement has now come to an end

A total of 180 people were called to the Bar of Ireland by the Chief Justice last year, allowing them to exercise a full right of audience before all courts, up 13 from 167 in 2020.

In a similar pattern to that observed with solicitors, the number of barristers from Northern Ireland and England and Wales called to the Bar of Ireland increased in recent years due to Brexit. In 2019, there were 76 such admissions and in 2020 there were 47. In 2021, the number further dropped to 34. According to the King’s Inns, this reflects “an easing in applications” related to Brexit in the last couple of years.

The report also shows that more than one in four (29 per cent) of practising solicitors last year worked with a total of 25 employers, comprising the main large law firms and public sector bodies. Solicitors working with these employers held a total of 3,323 practising certificates last year.