Communications
The Law Society manages communications through the Representation & Member Services Department, with input from an organisation-wide Communications Group.
- Messaging priorities
- Channels and contacts
- Branding and design
- Image guidelines and photography brief template
- Video guidelines
- Contact the Communications Group
Messaging priorities
The Law Society must communicate selectively, focusing energy on the following strategic priorities. You can keep up with what's happening from week-to-week through the Weekly Communications Grid and Comms Campaign Calendar.
Justice and Law Reform expertise
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Manifesto Project
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Justice and Law Reform Series
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Submissions
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Engagement with policy makers
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Centre for Justice and Law Reform
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Family Law
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Justice System Delays (LSI Index)
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EPAs
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Need for digitisation
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Conveyancing
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Environmental
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Planning
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Probate
The changing profession
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Profile of the profession
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Routes to the profession
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Diverse traineeships
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Access programme
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Apprenticeship path
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Expert panel showcasing diversity
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Demonstrate mosaic across all channels
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Investment in eConveyancing
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Psychological Services
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Digitisation
Supporting the profession
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Tell our story
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3 Pillars for all Solicitor Services
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Value
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Regulation as a Service
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Justice and Law reform issues
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Legal deserts
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Insurance Industry push-back
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Correcting the record
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Empower solicitors to engage with local representatives
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Tapping strength of profession
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Cybersecurity
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Wellbeing
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Practice support
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Talent
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Tech and AI
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Succession planning
Channels and contacts
See information on the key channels used by the Law Society below.
The Member Communications team coordinates campaigns on high-priority strategic communications. You can see updates on current and future campaigns through the links below
Contacts
Contact Carmel Kelly or Martha Fallon.
The Law Society website receives 3 million visits a year and the weekly eZine issues to 17,000 solicitors each Tuesday.
Deadlines
Updates to web content and eZine articles can be submitted at any time - and owners of web content should review relevant pages at least twice a year. To ensure inclusion in the Tuesday eZine, please ensure that you submit an article on or before the preceding Friday.
Contacts
For day-to-day web content updates and eZine articles, contact Sarah Baird.
For new landing pages, overhauls of existing content, or larger projects, contact Derek Owens.
The Law Society Gazette provides legal industry news and analysis to the profession through the Gazette magazine, Gazette.ie news site, and Gazette Digest email every Friday.
Contacts
For stories of interest to Gazette.ie readers, contact Mary Hallissey.
For the Gazette magazine, contact Mark McDermott.
Where it is necessary to urgently communicate to the profession about a top-priority issue, the President's Bulletin or Director General Bulletin is used.
Contacts
Contact Carmel Kelly.
The Public Relations team deals with media enquiries, press releases, and discrete projects regarding external (non solicitor) messaging.
Contacts
Contact Miriam Taber or Siobhán Masterson.
The Law Society's social media channels have a combined audience of 87,988 followers, and are used to highlight different aspects of the Law Society's work to discrete audiences.
Contacts
Contact Derek Owens.
A selection of specialist eZines and newsletters cater to particular needs and interests of members or other stakeholders
Diploma Centre Newsletter
This eZine is used to communicate with non-solicitor students of Diploma Centre courses, and practitioners who have opted in to receive regular updates. For any enquiries, contact Odette O'Reilly.
Law School News
Published twice a year, this magazine shares updates from the Law School student and teaching community. For any enquiries or submissions, contact Rebecca Raftery.
LawWatch
This weekly eZine highlights case law, legislation, new journal articles, and other resources from the Law Society Library. For any enquiries, contact Clare Tarpey.
Legal Training eZine
This monthly eZine highlights courses and conferences offered by the Law Society Diploma Centre, Law Society Professional Training and Law Society Skillnet. For any enquiries or submissions, contact Liz Flynn.
Practice Support Update
This fortnightly update is sent to practitioners taking part in Wednesday lunchtime information sessions, and tailored to the needs of smaller firm practitioners. For any enquiries or submissions, contact Justin Purcell.
Branding and design
The Law Society works with professional designers on print publications, banners and other assets to ensure compliance with our guidelines.
To discuss a project involving design, contact Eugenea Leddy or Elizabeth McLoughlin.
Image guidelines and photography brief template
Please check our guidance for what types of photos to take and use in promoting a service or event connected with any section of the Law Society. We also have a brief template you can edit for use if booking a photographer.
This guidance is for any staff using photos in marketing or promotion of a service or event connected with the Law Society, including the Law School - specifically when choosing photos that feature people – to ensure we adhere to GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). In general, we recommend avoiding pictures of staff and trainees unless they are directly relevant to the topic. Of course, if in doubt contact Boris Selak for his opinion.
No stock imagery
Please note that our policy is to avoid using stock imagery in any of our marketing materials, if possible. If you need assistance with sourcing images, please contact one of our designers or the Member Communications team (Carmel Kelly, Martha Fallon).
If using photos of people, please note the following categories when deciding how to proceed.
Three categories
Consent must always be sought for use of a person’s image where they are clearly recognisable and the intention is to use their image for marketing purposes such as social media posts or on the Law Society website. For example, at events where a photographer is present, display notices to this effect that consent is assumed, and then the onus is on someone to state they do not provide consent. Or email the relevant people to obtain their consent and provide details of how their image will be used and for how long.
It is particularly important where a photo of a person or persons is used in a specific campaign e.g. on the cover of a brochure or online marketing communications for external consumption (solicitors, trainees etc) to specifically seek consent e.g. by email as explained above.
Be aware that there is a risk to depending on consent only, particularly for a promotion that has a commercial value (i.e. a Law Society service or course that has a cost attached). The subject of the photo retains their right after the fact to request withdrawal without any reason at any time. We must make the withdrawal of consent as easy as the giving of it and adhere to such requests if made for this category.
Therefore, we advise that you should only use consent if the photo(s) is for restricted and controlled distribution and has a designated short (e.g. a year) lifespan.
Also, there must be a balanced power position between the parties e.g. it is usually not suitable for staff unless it specifically relates to their job such as lecturer or coordinator and possibly not trainees (see Contractual obligation below).
Also, there must be a balanced power position between the parties e.g. it is usually not suitable for staff unless it specifically relates to their job such as lecturer or coordinator and possibly not trainees (see Contractual obligation below).
Consent is also necessary for special categories of data (e.g. disability, gender orientation) unless manifestly made public by the data subject. It must be free, balanced and documented.
Ask yourself would someone reasonably expect their image to be used in association with this event, promotion, or marketing campaign, providing the use is as per a privacy notice and there is sufficient transparency through signage at an event or via contact through email or other form of written communication.
If deemed reasonable and expected, and it is for non-commercial use, then the photos of attendees including staff, delegates, guests, visitors can be used.
We can include images of people at an event similar to another you are promoting e.g. using pictures of last year’s family law conference to promote the one for this year.
Avoid contractors such as catering staff, although it would probably be within the permitted as per above.
For commercial use where we are promoting a Law Society service or product for a cost, this is the safest option. In this case, we would offer some form of quid pro quo consideration – payment/gift/ free photos etc - for the use of the images. A contract in writing sets the terms. It can be used for staff to counteract any power imbalance as well as solicitors, trainees etc.
How long to retain photos
It is recommended not to keep photos of people for too long and, if unused, to delete them. In a contract you would specify the length of time.
If the consent is the basis, you need to specify in the consent form or communication the length of period of consent.
In terms of legitimate interest, it is usually a year after the last engagement/event, but it’s case to case.
Images to avoid or minimise
Avoid taking and retaining pictures of children, unless specifically relevant to the item and parental consent must be given e.g. Street Law.
Minimise photos where alcohol shown – be aware that people might be more likely to request withdrawal or to refuse consent.
Special categories of data should be avoided. Health, sexual orientation, preferences, membership of the trade union, religion etc. – again there can be exceptions e.g. Pride parade.
Questions or concerns?
Contact Boris Selak or Carmel Kelly.
Video guidelines
Video can be a powerful tool for engaging the Law Society's audiences. However, effective use of the medium requires resources and energy, and it is important to protect the Law Society brand by maintaining quality and consistency.
For this reason, all video projects should involve members of the RMS digital team as facilitators. The notes below are designed to support you, as content owner, to complete your video project successfully.
Before you start
You should consider some initial questions before embarking on a video project.
This is a question to ask before embarking on any communications project, but especially important for video – where woolly thinking is especially wasteful. To deliver the best possible video within budget and on time, make sure that you and all involved in this project are aligned on the audience and message. The more targeted you are, the easier it will be to tailor your message to your audience.
What will video do for your message that less resource-intensive mediums will not? Rather than taking on a video project because it feels modern or exciting, think about whether you want your video to simplify a complex message, project a certain image, or help the audience to immerse themselves in some aspect of the Law Society’s work. This will inform how the project takes shape.
How do you intend the video to be consumed by your audience - through a web page, social media post? The intended delivery medium impacts on the appropriate length, format and even screen orientation for your potential video.
Video is a medium of emotion rather than complexity. It can help to simplify and enrich a message, but only if that message has already been carefully refined and distilled – a ‘talking head’ speaking at length gains very little traction. If you cannot explain what you want to say within 30 seconds, your message is not ready for video.
Categories of video
Videos produced by the Law Society typically fall into one of the following categories.
This style of video uses panning, zooming, music and/or text to add dynamism to still visuals.
View this post on Instagram
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Suitable for: use on social media after an event, for generating interest in ‘chunky’ publications, promotion of upcoming events (subject to having suitable visuals).
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Benefits: quick and straightforward to produce, provided suitable assets are available.
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Challenges: requires suitable existing visual assets.
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Lead time: 1-2 days. Can be shorter if requirements are simple.
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Who to contact:Sarah Baird or Derek Owens.
This style of video showcases how a particular process or digital service works through screen capture.
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Suitable for: showing your audience how to use a new or updated digital tool, or addressing usability challenges with an existing resource.
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Benefits: offers an effective way to show, rather than tell, your audience what they need to do.
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Challenges: careful attention is needed to avoid overcomplicating the script and to maintain a manageable length.
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Lead time: 1-2 weeks depending on complexity and other work volumes.
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Who to contact:Derek Owens.
Where justified by a message’s strategic importance, the Law Society can engage outside videographers (or in some cases in-house staff) to capture video footage.
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Suitable for: putting a human face on a potentially complex or dry issue, adding emphasis to strategic communications priorities.
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Benefits: done effectively, can create a ‘wow’ factor and enhance engagement with an important issue.
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Challenges: requires significant investment of time and money to maintain production values.
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Lead time: varies depending on complexity – allow 3 weeks for a simple internal production and longer for external
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Who to contact: Derek Owens
The Law Society makes selective use of more candid or informal footage from events on certain social media channels.
View this post on Instagram
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Suitable for: generating in-the-moment engagement with an event or issue.
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Benefits: quick to produce, offering an immediacy and authenticity that some of our audiences engage with more than the typical ‘glossy’ Law Society style.
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Challenges: production values are not suitable for use everywhere, nature of the format means that the moment to be captured must be carefully considered.
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Lead time: issued within an hour of capture unless pre-publication approval required.
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Who to contact: member of digital comms team attending event – usually Sarah Baird or Derek Owens.
Style notes
Regardless of format, any video needs to communicate the Law Society’s brand values and other guidelines in this document. Particular things to consider with video include the following.
You want your video to inspire a reaction in your audience – to book a course, get in touch, or even learn more about a particular issue. Along with any video project, think about where you want your audience to go or what you want them to do after seeing the video – and any changes that may be needed to web content for that ‘call to action’ to be effective. It’s quick and easy to create a ‘friendly URL’ for your audience to follow on lawsociety.ie.
Many platforms have string limits on how long a video can be. Even if they don’t, audience interest drops off the longer that a video goes on. Respect your audience’s time by keeping the pace up and cutting any unnecessary fluff. If the video needs to be long for particular reasons, think about short ‘teaser’ highlights that would work well on social media.
The solicitors’ profession is a diverse one, and the Law Society is committed to supporting inclusion at all levels. People featured in videos should reflect this diversity – avoid things like all-male panels and look out for opportunities to showcase diversity.
Any music used should be dynamic, upbeat and engaging unless the context truly demands a more downbeat or traditional sound. Avoid strings.
Blackhall Place is a beautiful building that conveys a strong sense of tradition. Unfortunately, it’s easy for this to also project a stuffy or boring image. Think carefully about where any on-site filming will happen to make sure that we showcase modernity as well as tradition.
Queries
If you have any queries about these guidelines, contact Derek Owens or Sarah Baird.
Contact the Communications Group
To ensure consistent, strategic communication, a Communications Group coordinates activity across all channels.
If you are not sure which channel is right for your message, or would like some other guidance to reach the right audience, contact the Communications Group.
