Council of the Law Society
The Law Society of Ireland is governed by a Council of elected and nominated members of the solicitors’ profession.
Rosemaries Loftus reports on a year of campaigning for access to justice and rural practices.
Mark Garrett reflects on a year of reform, record numbers and rising influence for the Law Society.
See selected highlights from the Law Society's work in 2025.
The Law Society of Ireland is governed by a Council of elected and nominated members of the solicitors’ profession.
The Law Society's work for the profession and public interest is directed by its Statement of Strategy for 2024 to 2028.
The director general, Mark Garrett, who leads a group of five departmental heads as part of an executive leadership team.
See key figures from a changing Irish solicitors' profession.
The Law Society continued to strengthen its governance framework in 2025.
The Law Society made significant strides in its Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) journey.
The Council may delegate the exercise of any of its functions to a committee established for that purpose. This allows the Council to appoint standing committees that exercise statutory functions on its behalf.
The Co-ordination Committee operates as a link between the Society’s committees and the Council, with an oversight role for projects undertaken by each of the Society’s committees and task forces.
The role of the Education Committee is to prescribe and review the overall policy of the Society's Law School, to determine the content of course syllabi, monitor the traineeship programme and decide applications in relation to traineeships and other matters.
The Finance Committee's key function is the management of the financial affairs of the Law Society and its subsidiaries.
The Money Laundering Reporting Committee’s statutory remit is to report any suspicions that money laundering or an offence of financing terrorism has been committed by a practising solicitor or any other person.
The Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) Committee's remit includes all matters relating to the regulation of solicitors’ PII.
The Regulation of Practice Committee administers the Law Society’s Compensation Fund and oversees the profession’s compliance with regulatory requirements not assigned to other regulatory committees.
The Council appoints non-standing committees where it believes that these can better assist the Society in carrying out its work. These committees do not perform statutory functions.
The Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Committee supports members in relation to ADR and promotes mediation, arbitration, and other ADR methods.
The Business Law Committee represents, informs, and assists the profession on business-related legal topics, and reviews practical issues arising for solicitors in corporate and commercial practice.
The Conveyancing Committee provides information and guidance on conveyancing practice and procedure to conveyancing practitioners and monitors developments affecting the area of conveyancing, and landlord and tenant law.
The Criminal Law Committee represents the interests of criminal law practitioners with various state bodies, publishes guidance to solicitors and develops education programmes in partnership with the Law Society.
The Curriculum Development Unit (CDU) helps to oversee the delivery of effective professional legal education and training.
The Employment & Equality Law Committee aims to keep practitioners informed of developments in national and European law to support them in maintaining expertise in this area of practice
The Environmental and Planning Law Committee monitors developments in relation to law reform or legislative proposals in the area of environmental and planning law.
The EU & International Affairs Committee monitors and reports on developments, especially at EU level and generally in the international sphere.
The Council appoints non-standing committees where it believes that these can better assist the Society in carrying out its work. These committees do not perform statutory functions.
The Family & Child Law Committee reviews and monitors developments in this area of law, and has responsibility also for civil legal aid.
The Gazette Editorial Board provides guidance and advice to the Gazette’s editorial team on potential articles and contributors.
The role of the Guidance and Ethics Committee is to provide guidance for individual members, dispute resolution and provide guidance on professional conduct.
The Human Rights and Equality Committee raises awareness in the Law Society, the profession and the public of human rights and equality issues.
The In-House and Public Sector Committee aims to promote the interests of in-house solicitors across the private and public sectors, who now comprise approximately 26% of the profession.
The Intellectual Property and Data Protection Law Committee provides information to the profession and an information sharing resource to business, Government, and those involved in the development and enforcement ofdata, IP and tech regulation.
The Litigation Committee reviews legislative changes in litigation, making submissions and publishing guidance for the profession.
The Council appoints non-standing committees where it believes that these can better assist the Society in carrying out its work. These committees do not perform statutory functions.
The Practice Support and Communications Committee provides insight into practitioner perspectives on relevant initiatives, services, and other deliverables relevant to solicitors.
The Probate Committee comments on and reviews changes to legislation and practice in the area of Probate, Administration, and related taxation issues, and advises the profession accordingly.
The Taxation Committee represents the interests of solicitors and issues guidance on taxation matters.
The Technology Committee empowers solicitors to confidently and competently navigate the rapidly evolving technology landscape in legal practice.
The Younger Members Committee represents and advocates for members of the profession with 0-7 years’ Post Qualification Experience (PQE).