Legal partnerships have come into force as a new business structure for legal services providers in Ireland. Solicitors and barristers who wish to operate as legal partnerships are now permitted to do so under a new regulatory framework introduced by the LSRA.

A legal partnership is a partnership formed under the law of the State by written agreement by two or more legal practitioners (solicitors or barristers) for the purpose of providing legal services.  At least one partner in a legal partnership must be a practising barrister.

Legal partnerships may be:

  • Solicitor-barrister legal partnerships, where at least one practising solicitor and one practising barrister are partners.
  • Barrister-only legal partnerships, where only practising barristers are partners.

The new regulatory framework consists of a suite of regulations and a new code of practice for practising barristers, all of which commenced on 26 September 2024.

These are:

  • The Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 (Legal Partnerships) Regulations 2024  (S.I. No. 489 of 2024).
  • The Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 (Limited Liability Partnerships) Regulations 2024 (S.I. No. 488 of 2024) which replace the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 (Limited Liability Partnerships) (Section 130) Regulations 2019 (S.I. No. 519 of 2019).
  • The Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 (Professional Indemnity Insurance for Barristers) Regulations 2024 (S.I. No. 490 of 2024) which replace the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 (Professional Indemnity Insurance) Regulations 2019 (S.I. No. 572 of 2019).
  • A LSRA Code of Practice for Practising Barristers, which sets out the requirements, rules and standards that apply to every person who is a practising barrister in Ireland as defined in the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015, as amended. Part 5 of the Code sets out the obligations and requirements of a practising barrister in a legal partnership. The Code also requires every practising barrister to have a policy of professional indemnity insurance in place.  This Code does not replace the Code of Conduct of the Bar of Ireland or the Professional Code of the Honorable Society of King’s Inns save that where a provision of a professional code conflicts with a provision of this new LSRA Code, this new LSRA Code will prevail.

The LSRA’s Registration Unit is now accepting notifications from legal practitioners who wish to establish legal partnerships.

For full details see: https://www.lsra.ie/for-law-professionals/legal-partnerships/.