Cork solicitor Patrick Dorgan takes office as Law Society president

Patrick Dorgan

The property lawyer has served on the Council of the Law Society for nearly two decades and has served on most of its committees.

Mr Dorgan, now the 148th president of the Society, said it was “a great honour to be elected President of the Law Society of Ireland at a time when there are over 18,000 names on the Roll of Solicitors”.

He said he would focus his 12-month term on promoting diversity and inclusion within the profession.

Mr Dorgan said: “We are proud of the strides made in terms of equality and diversity within the Irish solicitors’ profession over many years, and never more so than when we became the first legal profession worldwide to achieve gender parity in 2015.

“We are now looking ahead and one of my priorities as President will be to build on that achievement and further develop the strong policy of diversity and inclusion that is already at the core of the profession’s values.”

He also highlighted the opportunities which technology holds for solicitors and the wider legal profession in providing future-proof legal services and advice to businesses.

He said: “Business is worried about the impacts from Brexit and political change throughout Europe and the US in particular. Technology has changed profoundly the way we do business and go about our lives.

“Approached intelligently, these challenges are opportunities for smart businesses to thrive in new ways, and the solicitors’ profession is no different – it is younger, more diverse, more tech savvy and generally more switched on to what business and consumers need from their lawyers than ever before.”