Róisín Magee, Chair

The committee aims to promote the interests of in-house solicitors across the private and public sectors, who now comprise approximately 26% of the profession. It is a busy, hard-working committee, with 23 members in 2025.

In March 2025, a one-page summary and five detailed infographics were published, giving key insights relating to in-house and public-sector solicitors. The committee worked with Ipsos B&A to draw out information from the Law Society’s 2023 Strategy Survey to assist the committee plan its work and help further advance the needs of this sector of the profession.

In April 2025, the committee hosted the European Company Lawyers’ Association (ECLA) General Assembly at the Law Society. The chair represented the Law Society at ECLA’s General Counsel Forum in Madrid and at its general assembly in November. Also in April, Ireland for Law launched its fact sheet ‘Governing law and jurisdiction – why Ireland?’ with input from the committee, to provide a clear case about the Irish legal system and the advantages of choosing to do business here.

We collaborated with Law Society Professional Training on two significant CPD events in 2025: a public sector careers symposium in May, which showcased opportunities for solicitors who want to build rewarding careers in the public sector; and an annual conference in October, titled ‘Adapting and thriving in transformative times’, which covered topics from the use of AI, to the Ireland for Law initiative, and how to manage evolving work, regulatory, and business environments. These events featured high-profile speakers from the in-house community and were reported on in the Gazette.

In October, the chair spoke at the ‘In-house, Four Jurisdictions Panel’ at the Law Society of Scotland’s annual conference.

Throughout 2025, the committee:

• Played an active role within the Law Society, providing in-house insights to staff and other committees, participating in events (including the 2025 Future of Legal Practice Summit), and engaging with the Professional Wellbeing Steering Group,
• Promoted in-house articles in the Gazette through Sarah-Jane Clifford, who is the committee’s liaison on the Gazette Editorial Board,
• Collaborated with the Communications Team on the monthly ‘In-house Update’, published in the eZine and on the website.

I wish to sincerely thank all committee members for their contributions during 2025, with special thanks to Alison Bradshaw (immediate past-chair), Sarah-Jane Clifford (vice-chair), and Louise Campbell (secretary).