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Why you need a practising certificate
It is misconduct and a criminal offence for a solicitor (other than a solicitor in the full-time service of the state) to practise without a practising certificate. Any solicitor found to be practising without a practising certificate is liable to be referred to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.

Practising certificate application forms
Application forms for solicitors in private practice will be forwarded to the principal or the managing partner in each practice, rather than to each solicitor.

When you must apply
A practising certificate must be applied for on or before 1 February in each year in order to be dated 1 January of that year and thereby operate as a qualification to practise from the commencement of the year. It is therefore a legal requirement for a practising solicitor to deliver or cause to be delivered to the Registrar of Solicitors, on or before 1 February 2011, an application in the prescribed form duly completed and signed by the applicant solicitor personally, together with the appropriate fee. The onus is on each solicitor to ensure that his or her application form and fee is delivered by 1 February 2011. Applications should be delivered to the Regulation Department of the Society at George’s Court, George’s Lane, Dublin 7; DX 1025 Four Courts.

What happens if you apply late?
Any applications for practising certificates that are received after 1 February 2011 will result in the practising certificates being dated the date of actual receipt by the Registrar of Solicitors, rather than 1 January 2011. There is no legal power to allow any period of grace under any circumstances whatsoever.

Please note that, again during 2010, a number of solicitors went to the trouble and expense of making an application to the High Court for their practising certificate to be backdated to 1 January because their practising certificate application was received after 1 February.

The Regulation of Practice Committee is the committee of the Society that has responsibility for supervising compliance with practising certificate requirements. A special meeting of this committee will be held on a date after 1 February 2011, to be decided, to consider any late or unresolved applications for practising certificates. At this meeting, any practising solicitors who have not applied by then for a practising certificate will be considered for referral forthwith to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and will be informed that the Society reserves the right to take proceedings for an order under section 18 of the Solicitors (Amendment) Act 2002 to prohibit them from practising illegally.

If you are an employed solicitor
Solicitors who are employed should note that it is the statutory obligation of every solicitor who requires a practising certificate to ensure that he or she has a practising certificate in force from the commencement of the year. Employed solicitors cannot absolve themselves from this responsibility by relying on their employers to procure their practising certificates. However, it is the Society’s recommendation that all employers should pay for the practising certificate of solicitors employed by them.

Some of your details are already on the application form
The practising certificate application form will be issued with certain information relating to each solicitor’s practice already completed. This year, such information will include the relevant fees due by each solicitor, with the exception of those solicitors of 70 years or over; such solicitors should deduct €58 from the fees noted on their application form, as they will not be covered under the provisions of the Solicitors’ Group Life Cover Scheme.

Law Directory 2011
It is intended that the Law Directory 2011 will note all solicitors who have been issued with a practising certificate by 9 February 2011 (not those who have applied by 9 February 2011). Therefore, in order to ensure that your practising certificate issues by 9 February 2011, you should ensure that the application form you return to the Society is completed correctly. If it is not completed correctly, it will be necessary to return the form, which may result in delaying the issue of your practising certificate, despite the fact that you had applied for it prior to 9 February 2011.

What you can access on the website ()
A blank application form for obtaining a practising certificate is downloadable from the practising certificate section in the members’ area. (This area is accessible by using your username and password: for assistance, please visit ). Alternatively, the form can be completed on-screen and printed out for signing and returning to the Society with the appropriate fee. In addition, you may request a form to be emailed to you by emailing: l.darling@lawsociety.ie.

If you are ceasing practice
If you have recently ceased practice or are intending to cease practice in the coming year, please notify the Society accordingly.

Acknowledgement of application forms
Please note that it is not the Society’s policy to acknowledge receipt of application forms as received.

Duplicate practising certificate
Recently, an increasing number of solicitors have requested a duplicate practising certificate for the purpose of presenting their practising certificate to the firm’s reporting accountant. A fee of €50 will be payable in respect of each duplicate practising certificate issued for any purpose.

John Elliot,
Registrar of Solicitors and Director of Regulation