Brexit prompts tenfold rise in British lawyers registering in Ireland

Reuters
The Statue of Justice, depicted as a women with a sword in one hand and scale in her other, is seen on top of the London Central Criminal Court, the Old Bailey in London August 12, 2005. UNICS REUTERS/Russell Boyce

DUBLIN (Reuters) - The number of British lawyers registering in Ireland is set to be 10 times higher this year than in 2015 as they seek to ensure they can still practise in the European Union after Brexit, the Law Society of Ireland said on Monday. The five major London firms often called the "magic circle" were among the highest sources of applicants, as they secured additional jurisdictional status, primarily for anti-trust, competition and trade lawyers. "The tsunami of new solicitors has been caused by Brexit-driven transfer decisions," Law Society of Ireland Director General Ken Murphy said in a statement. "The single word that dominates all assessments of the potential impact of Brexit is 'uncertainty'." The Law Society said a record 810 England and Wales-qualified lawyers will be admitted by the end of the year compared to a total of 70 last year, following a surge that began even before Britain voted to leave the EU in June. That total is almost twice the number of Irish trainees set to join the roll in 2016. Under EU rules, lawyers who have qualified in England, Wales or Northern Ireland need only undergo a simple process to be permitted to practise in Ireland, which has a similar legal system. The rules for Scotland are more onerous. The number of lawyers based in British-run Northern Ireland registering south of the border is set to fall to 25 from 30 last year, the figures showed. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, one of the five so-called "magic circle" firms, registered the most lawyers, 117, followed by fellow London-headquartered Eversheds, which registered 86, the Law Society said. Murphy said he did not know if any of the firms intends to open an office in Ireland. Freshfields had told the Law Society its lawyers registered to allay any conceivable concerns about their status in dealing with EU institutions, he said, and had "unambiguously" ruled out opening an Irish office. (Reporting by Padraic Halpin; Editing by Catherine Evans)