The meeting was hosted by the Law Society of Ireland at Blackhall Place.

The Four Jurisdictions meetings are an opportunity for colleagues from The Law Society of Ireland, The Law Society of England and Wales and The Law Society of Scotland to share experiences, best practice and to identify areas where they can work collaboratively on behalf of their members. Each jurisdiction has unique challenges but the issues faced by solicitors, and by legal professionals more generally, often resonate.

A statement from the Law Society of Northern Ireland said: “We discussed how we each support small practices and provide solicitors with the tools and training to make their business sustainable.

“We were delighted to share details of our pilot programme providing support and CPD in the communities that solicitors serve through regional clusters. We also considered the guardrails needed for the ethical adoption of AI tools, challenges to the rule of law and the administration of justice, the need for investment in legal aid to address advice deserts and a range of other issues important to the profession.

“Thank you Martin Lawlor, Brett Dixon, Serena Sutherland, Dana Denis-Smith OBE, Valerie Peart, Patricia Thom, Ian Jeffery, Mark Garrett and Ben Kemp for the opportunity to cooperate, collaborate and share our experiences.”