Maria Lakes

The Tracey Solicitors LLP Scholarship in Law and Criminology will be open to final-year law students registered with Maynooth University’s access programme (MAP).

Commencing in October 2025, the scholarship will provide important funding and career development and mentorship to help the recipient complete their studies in law and progress towards a career in the legal profession.

Professor Fergus Ryan, head of the School of Law and Criminology at Maynooth University, said: “This is a wonderful opportunity for a final year law student and we are very grateful to Tracey Solicitors for this support.

“Combining financial support with industry mentorship from Tracey Solicitors will be of significant benefit to the scholarship student, particularly as they progress through their final year studies and towards graduation.”

Tracey Solicitors LLP is a personal injury and medical negligence law firm based in Dublin city centre and has been in operation for over 35 years.

A number of staff at the firm gained their law qualifications through access programmes, including partner Maria Lakes.

Ms Lakes will be providing mentorship to the recipient of the scholarship and is a passionate advocate for the benefits of access programmes in fostering diversity in the legal profession.

“Given that 70 per cent of young legal professionals currently come from affluent socio-economic backgrounds, it’s clear that the profession would be enriched by more diversity,” she said.

“I strongly believe that pathways such as MAP play an important part in achieving this goal. They are a way of making a career in law more accessible to people from a broader range of backgrounds.

“Access programmes levelled the playing field for me and made my legal career possible. They gave me an opportunity to achieve my goals.

“We at Tracey Solicitors LLP are honoured to support an access student at Maynooth University from October 2025 and to help them along their path to a career in law.

“We hope this partnership grows over the coming years and that we can continue to work closely with Maynooth University and support MAP students on their journey.”