Ken Murphy

The Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) has confirmed it will accept applications from 1 November 2019, with further information regarding LLPs and the application process to be made available on its official website.

The move follows the commencement of chapter 3 of part 8 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 earlier this month.

Welcoming the development, Ken Murphy, director-general of the Law Society, said: “For almost two decades, the Law Society has been urging the Government to introduce limited liability partnerships as an option for partnerships of solicitors in Ireland.

“More recently, in August 2018, we made a detailed submission, accompanied by a comprehensive set of draft regulations, to the Legal Services Regulatory Authority on LLPs to assist the authority in its preparation of draft regulations.

“This is the very welcome culmination of a 20-year campaign by the Law Society and is one of the most significant changes in terms of daily legal practice under the Legal Services Regulation Act. It is a modernising measure already available to partnerships of lawyers in many other jurisdictions.

“I hope that all partners and firms will avail of this significant advantage, long fought for. We will continue to engage with Government and the new authority to ensure that this protection is extended to sole practitioners also.”