For many young people, geographical location can be a challenge in itself when trying to access education and career opportunities.
Some of those who leave their home area to pursue a goal may do so out of what they feel is a necessity, rather than choice.
The Law Society of Ireland, through its Small Practice Traineeship Grant scheme, is trying to show trainee solicitors that there can be a choice.
Boost smaller practices in rural Ireland
The society has announced its 2021 grant scheme, worth a total of €125,000, to assist with the cost of employing a trainee solicitor and boost smaller solicitor practices in rural Ireland.
Smaller solicitor practices based outside of the main urban districts of Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway are encouraged to apply before the deadline of July 2.
The scheme, now in its second year, came about following an analysis that the Law Society previously undertook.
According to Richard Hammond SC, chairperson of the Law Society Education Committee, the analysis established that over 80% of the trainee solicitors on its course one year were doing their traineeship in Dublin.
Hammond explained that while that figure is one that is prone to fluctuation, it is still concerning.
“It’s naturally the case that you’re going to have a significant majority of your trainee contracts in Dublin – because Dublin is the primary commercial hub for the country and it makes sense that would be the case,” he said.
“But, at that kind of dominance, you would be concerned for the availability of legal services – I’m not talking anytime in the short-term – but certainly in the medium- to longer-term, one would be concerned about the availability of legal services in provincial Ireland.
“And whilst of course the populous is getting ever more mobile and ever more connected, it’s still to our mind of value that you would have legal services relatively available in the community, not that there should be a solicitor in every village, but that you shouldn’t have to be confined to the county town in every county.”
‘Life gets in the way’ of trainee solicitors returning to rural areas
The criteria for firms in applying for the grant includes that they have five or less solicitors, be outside the main urban areas listed above, and that they would commit to paying at least the living wage to the trainee, as per the Law Society recommendation.
The Law Society, nor do firms around the country expect that every trainee will want to move to rural Ireland – but the “whole point of this initiative is to encourage the perspective that there can be options”.
“I think part of it is to make it clear that they have the option of staying in rural Ireland rather than relocating to rural Ireland,” Hammond continued.
“Through coincidence of circumstance rather than deliberate design, I ended up doing my own traineeship with a prominent, medium-sized firm in Dublin.
“I left them after three years post-qualification experience to come down to Mallow and opened up a firm in Mallow in 2007 with my spouse, that type of direction of travel seems to be against the tide.
“I don’t have any studies on it but anecdotally, there would be a number of solicitors that have spoken to me about their children going into law but not going into the family firm – going to bigger firms in Dublin, doing their traineeship there – perhaps with the intention of coming back.
“But then, life gets in the way – they find they’re in a nice practice doing work that they like, they fall in love, get married, buy a property, and next thing you know they’re not coming back to what otherwise would have been the family firm.”
While trainee solicitors may want to do their training in rural areas for a number of reasons, it can be a challenge to secure a traineeship due to the financial burden it can place on smaller practices.
“If you’re a big firm in Dublin or any of the other cities, taking on trainees makes sense; you’re training them in how your firm works,” Hammond said.
“You’re effectively building the firm with them – it is quite common for the trainees to stay on as solicitors. Dublin has recovered well from the recession, but a lot of provincial Ireland is still treading water.
“And for a potential trainee solicitor to be taken on, it’s a significant time commitment and a significant financial commitment that they may feel they are not even able to make as they have to work so hard just to keep themselves going.”
A home bird
Jason Laverty, a Co. Donegal native and trainee solicitor at Browne and Co. Solicitors in Letterkenny, received the grant in 2020.
He is currently on the Law Society’s PPC Hybrid course, where he can do his traineeship “20 minutes from home instead of spending extended periods in Dublin”.
A self-proclaimed home bird, Laverty has been working at his firm for a number of years, having undertaken his work experience there during his degree.
He said that trying to find a traineeship outside of Dublin can be “difficult – because you’re getting into rural practices where there might only be one or two solicitors and a handful of staff and they’re hesitant to take people on, probably primarily due to the cost”.
With the PPC Hybrid course, there is a mix of online and in-person classes, with a trip to Dublin every month, prior to Covid-19.
“That suited me as I was happy enough staying in Donegal and wasn’t too sad about not travelling down to Dublin,” Laverty said.
“I never had any interest in living in Dublin or even working in Dublin. I was always a home bird, I love Donegal, I love the rural aspect of it. I think you get out what you put in wherever you are.
“Being in Dublin would be more if you’re into high-profile commercial transactions, or if you’re into high-profile criminal things – that isn’t something at the moment anyway that would have interested me.
“You look at Dublin, and you go to one of the big firms and it’s high pressure – it might be high reward, but it comes with a downside too.
“There’s a lot expected of you; there’s high-level transactions going on, there’s high amount of stress; perhaps just starting out in your career you don’t necessarily want to start out stressing, going into the office early in the morning and coming out late at night.
“In a rural practice, that might not be expected of you so much; in Donegal you might have an odd evening where you have to stay on or something but generally your working day is your working day and you have a life that’s outside of it.
“You have the benefit of not having a high rent because you’re not in a pressurised zone, you might not have that commute or traffic, you’ve a lot more peace I would say.”