Hiring a Trainee

See below for resources available to solicitors who may be interested in hiring an FE-1 student or trainee.

Recruitment

You will need to recruit an individual who has successfully completed the Law Society Final Examination First Part (FE-1).

  1. You could advertise your vacancy for free on the Law Society Finding Your Training Contract forum. Just email traineeship with the vacancy details.

  2. You could advertise your vacancy on legalvacancies.ie

  3. You could add your firm’s details to the register of firms who take on trainee solicitors. 

Eligibility to become a training solicitor

  1. You must at some stage have held an Irish practising certificate for a period of four years.

  2. You must currently hold an Irish practising certificate.

  3. If working in private practice, you must be either a partner or principal.

  4. A training solicitor may have two trainee solicitors apprenticed to them at any one time and one more trainee solicitor for every two assistant solicitors employed.

Registration

In order to obtain the Law Society’s consent to register a training contract, the important documents to be completed are:

  1. Form 1 – for proposed trainee solicitor to complete

  2. Form 2A or Form 2B – for proposed training solicitor (Form 2A) or training manager (Form 2B) to complete

  3. Code of conduct – to be signed by both proposed trainee solicitor and proposed training solicitor / training manager

Once the Law Society has approved the proposed training contract, the Indenture Deed (training contract) will be issued for completion, signing by both the proposed trainee solicitor and the proposed training solicitor, and return to the Law Society for registration.

In-Office Training Period

The in-office training period is of twenty four months’ duration and commences fourteen days after the last Professional Practice Course (PPC) exam. A trainee solicitor is required to obtain experience working in any three distinct areas of law to include working on contentious and non-contentious matters.

Training Fees

  • Registration of Indenture Deed (training contract) €925

  • Professional Practice Course €11,350

  • Advanced Electives (Four required) €675 each or €2,160 if four advanced electives completed with the Law Society

  • Application to join the Roll of Solicitors €330

Professional Practice Course (PPC)

Trainee solicitors may attend either the full-time PPC which runs from September to April or the Hybrid PPC course (part-time & distance learning) which runs from December to the following December.

Trainee solicitors are required to complete four Advanced Electives after completing the PPC course. The Law Society runs the Advanced Electives in two blocks each year taking place in May and June respectively.

More information