Massive increase in UK solicitors seeking transfer to Irish roll

Nearly 600 solicitors in England and Wales have applied for the right to practise in the Irish courts since the

Brexit vote.

So far, 568 solicitors have applied to the Law Society. Four hundred have been accepted and 168 applications are pending since the June 23rd referendum. Usually, between 50 and 100 English and Welsh solicitors apply.

A total of 104 applications came from a single firm, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, a London and Manchester-based partnership with offices worldwide.

Unless the society otherwise determines, solicitors whose first place of qualification is England and Wales, or Northern Ireland, are not obliged to pass exams, but they do require a certificate of admission.

Once Irish permission is given, however, it means UK lawyers can continue to appear before the European Court of Justice, and represent clients in other EU institutions. Only lawyers qualified in an EU member state can appear before the Luxembourg-based European Court court, which adjudicates on matters of EU law.

Guarantee

Enrolling in Ireland also means that clients of English and Welsh law firms are protected from intrusive demands from third parties, such as, for instance, a US law enforcement agency. Only lawyers enrolled and regulated by a professional body of an EU member state can guarantee their clients such legal confidentiality, according to Law Society director general

Ken Murphy

.

The president of the Law Society, Simon Murphy, and Ken Murphy, held talks with Freshfields in July.

He said: “They explained that the solicitors transferring to the roll in Ireland were members of the firm’s anti-trust, competition and trade law team, based in their London and Brussels offices.

“They have decided to take out qualification in an additional jurisdiction as a precautionary measure in advance of Britain’s exit from the EU, in case this might be necessary in the future to protect their status in dealing with EU institutions and their clients’ right to legal privilege in the course of EU investigations.”

None of the UK-based solicitors, or their firms, is planning to move to Ireland.