The Law Society’s Regulatory Performance Initiative launched in 2025 reflects a new approach to regulation, one which sees effective regulation not simply as a compliance requirement, but as a service to the profession and a tool for business enhancement.

The initiative supports solicitors and firms to identify risks earlier, strengthen their systems and processes, and develop more resilient and sustainable practices. It moves regulatory engagement beyond a predominantly reactive model towards a more proactive relationship, where regulation provides practical guidance and insight that helps firms meet their obligations while also supporting good business practice.

Regulation can also be a valuable business enhancement tool. Many regulatory requirements around governance, financial management, client care, risk management, continuity planning and record keeping are also characteristics of well-run businesses. By presenting regulation in a more practical and constructive way, the initiative helps firms use regulatory requirements as a framework for improving efficiency, reducing avoidable risk, strengthening client service and building more robust practices. It also recognises that the regulatory burden itself should be proportionate and efficient.

Putting the initiative into practice

By making requirements clearer, processes simpler and regulatory engagement easier to navigate, we are aiming to reduce unnecessary demands on your time, thereby freeing capacity to focus on clients, develop and grow your business, and allowing you achieve a better work-life balance.

A central part of the initiative is listening to the profession. By integrating feedback into the way regulation is designed and delivered, the Law Society is making regulatory requirements and services clearer, more accessible and more useful in practice. The result is a model of enhanced regulation in which the profession can thrive, and the public remains effectively protected.

If you have any feedback, please contact Eamonn Maguire, Regulatory Communications Manager

• Email: E.Maguire@LawSociety.ie
• Tel: 01 8798728