Ciara Battigan

Heron, a digital marketplace connecting businesses and law firms with experienced consultant solicitors, is drawing attention to regulatory barriers exacerbating what it calls a “legal talent drain”.

In particular, it says the cost of practising certificates and professional indemnity insurance “create significant barriers to flexible return”.

While women now make up a majority of solicitors in Ireland, they continue to comprise barely more than a third of partners in law firms.

Heron — named after the first woman admitted as a solicitor in Ireland, Dorothea Mary Heron — says its consultant solicitor model can help women return to practice after leaving the profession or stalling in non-partner roles.

Most of the solicitors on its panel are women, who the business says stand to benefit the most from a consultant model which offers control over their work, flexibility to practice on their own terms, and a level of autonomy that traditional employment doesn’t provide.

A notable success earlier this year saw a two-partner firm use Heron’s platform to access senior litigation capacity for a significant €15 million Commercial Court matter.

“The firm competed against top-tier legal representation by building their team flexibly for the specific expertise needed — demonstrating how quality of expertise matters more than firm size when the right infrastructure exists,” Heron said.

Heron recently launched a free two-hour, CPD-accredited course on AI literacy, based on guidance published by the Law Society of Ireland, which is open to all legal professionals and recommended to its consultants.

Later this year, it will also build a new AI-powered legal intelligence platform aimed at mid-market law firms.

Ciara Battigan, managing director of Heron, told Irish Legal News: “We’re genuinely supporting Irish businesses and law firms to access the expertise they need.

“Dorothea Mary Heron became Ireland’s first female solicitor in 1923. A century later, we’re still losing talented women during their mid-career years — not because they don’t want to practice law, but because the traditional ways of working and infrastructure to support flexible practice hasn’t kept pace with demand.

“We’re creating pathways back. And we’re equipping returning solicitors with AI literacy so they bring both expertise and practical knowledge to the firms they work with.”