Ireland’s legal profession expands but future talent supply shows early strain

Ellie Nicholl is the senior content and engagement coordinator at LawCareers.Net

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Data from the 2025 Annual Report on Admission Policies of Legal Professions has revealed that demand for legal services in Ireland continues to grow, with the legal sector contributing €6.7 billion to Ireland’s economy, while also pointing to emerging pressures on training and regional provision.

The analysis, which was jointly commissioned by the Law Society and the Bar of Ireland, found that there are now around 12,000 solicitors on the roll and 52,000 jobs across the wider sector. In 2025, Irish law firms A&L Goodbody LLP, Matheson LLP and Arthur Cox LLP employed the largest number of solicitors. Trainee solicitor admissions remained strong, with 581 trainees taken on by year‑end. Confidence in the profession remains high, with 65% of private‑sector and 53% of public‑sector solicitors reporting a positive outlook. However, there was a slight dip compared with 2023 in the proportion expecting significant growth in their own field.

Expansion in legal work is being driven by sectors including financial services, manufacturing, technology and life sciences, with lawyers increasingly advising on regulatory compliance, commercial contracts, M&A and dispute resolution.

Meanwhile, emerging areas such as data protection, AI and cybersecurity are also creating demand for specialised expertise, with 86% of private‑sector solicitors and 92% of public‑sector in‑house solicitors seeking additional training.

In‑house legal work continues to expand, with half of private‑sector in‑house solicitors now working on commercial matters, up from 41% in 2023. The Law Society Gazette Ireland noted the increase suggests growing confidence among corporate legal teams to handle more complex work internally.

However, the report highlighted early signs that future supply may struggle to keep pace with demand. Enrolments on the Law Society’s Professional Practice Course (PPC) fell by 3% in 2024, first‑time practising certificates declined by 9% and new entrants to the barrister-at‑law degree dropped by 8%.

The geographic distribution of legal services also remained uneven. Of the 12,961 practising solicitors, around two thirds (8,827) were based in Dublin. Small firms outside of major urban areas struggled to recruit, with Dublin offering higher salaries, greater career variety and several large commercial clients.

In response, the Law Society of Ireland is exploring several measures to counteract the lack of solicitors in rural areas, including a solicitor apprenticeship model for school leavers and a more flexible PPC hybrid model, which would allow trainees to study more flexibly while working. It also awarded six small practice traineeship grants in 2025, which support regional firms of five or fewer solicitors, providing €18,000 to the training firm over two years and a €7,000 discount for students on their PPC fees.

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