Training Contract
Before applying for the Professional Practice Course (PPC), you must have secured a training contract with an eligible solicitor to provide you with training and experience over a two-year period. This will also require the Law Society’s consent and must be registered.
You must enter into a Training Contract with an eligible training solicitor. The Training Contract is for a period of 24 months. The only exception to this is if you formally apply for and are awarded credit for prior legal work experience. For further information see Applying for In-Office Training Credit.
The standard form of Training Contract is provided with the PPC Application pack. It sets out your obligations as a trainee solicitor and those of your training solicitor. Your training solicitor is required to provide you with reasonable and appropriate instruction and experience in three distinct areas of law to include contentious and non-contentious matters.
You and your training solicitor should read the Training Contract carefully before signing it.
Under the Training Contract you agree (amongst other things):
- To treat as confidential all information about your training solicitor’s business, clients, and office.
- To approach your tasks and duties as a trainee solicitor with diligence and honesty.
- To attend at the office on a continuous and full-time basis, and not to be absent without the prior consent of your training solicitor and, where required, that of the Law Society.
- To take care of all monies and/or property of your training solicitor, the firm or company you are working for and of any clients.
- To maintain a written record of your in-office training.
- To abide by the code of conduct and ethics.
- Not to carry on any other business, employment, or hold any office during the period of the training contract without the written consent of your training solicitor and the Law Society.
- That the Law Society, to ensure adequate supervision of you as a trainee solicitor, may provide your examination results to your training solicitor/ training firm.
The Training Contract sets out what you can expect from your training solicitor during the course of your in-office training period.
Under the Training Contract your training solicitor agrees:
- To provide you with office facilities to enable you to work and gain the necessary instruction and experience.
- To instruct you and provide you with the opportunity to obtain experience in the practice of law and the practice and profession of a solicitor.
- To provide you with the opportunity to practise the skills associated with the practice of law and the practice and profession of a solicitor (drafting, letter writing, interviewing and advising, legal research, negotiation, advocacy and oral presentation).
- To provide you with the opportunity to gain experience in both contentious and non-contentious work.
- To provide you with instruction and experience in three distinct areas of legal practice.
- Where your training solicitor cannot provide you with instruction and experience in any one or more of the three distinct areas of legal practice, to make suitable arrangements for you to be seconded to the office of another practising solicitor in order that you can be given the opportunity to gain instruction and experience in that particular area. The length of time you should be seconded for will vary with the circumstances. For further information, see the Secondments section under the In-office Training step.
Not all solicitors are eligible to become a training solicitor. The solicitor must be a practising solicitor for a continuous period of at least four years. A practising solicitor is defined as a solicitor who is engaged full time in the provision of legal services as:
- A sole practitioner, or
- A partner in a firm of solicitors, or
- A solicitor in the whole-time employment of a body corporate, or
- A solicitor in the full-time service of the State within the meaning of Section 54 (as substituted by section 62 of the Solicitors (Amendment) Act, 1994) of the Solicitors Act 1954.
A training solicitor must be able to offer you legal experience in three distinct areas of law to include contentious and non-contentious matters.
Finding Your Training Contract seminar
The Law Society has created a Finding Your Training Contract seminar with many useful resources for candidates seeking a Training Contract, including the following:
- Written advice and videos on how to prepare your CV and a letter of application.
- Written accounts from trainee solicitors on their experience of finding their Training Contract.
- Videos to prepare you for an interview, including a video on how to map your core competencies which are relevant to the role of trainee solicitor.
- A detailed register of all Training Contracts offered in Ireland (within the last 5 years).
The seminar is available through the Law Society’s online learning platform (Moodle).
To request access to the Finding Your Training Contract seminar please email TraineeSection@LawSociety.ie with FYTC in the subject line.
A member of the Traineeship Section will follow up with your login details and password.
Online register of firms seeking trainees
The Law Society of Ireland maintains an online register of firms across Ireland who are open to offering a Training Contract. The register includes the firm name, address, contact along with the average number of contracts offered per annum.
When you have found a training solicitor, you must apply to the Law Society for consent to enter into the proposed Training Contract (i.e. consent to Indentures of Apprenticeship). This is done is conjunction with your application to attend the Professional Practice Course.
The demand for places on the PPC can at times be intense. You are urged to submit your application and include all necessary enclosures in a timely manner.
See Courses & Deadlines below for further information.
Applications must be submitted via email and post to the Traineeship Section.
For full details on the PPC application process and forms go to the Applying for the Professional Practice Course step.
Once your Training Contract has been registered and returned to you, your place on the PPC is confirmed.
Deadline to submit applications for the Full-time Professional Practice course is the fourth Friday in May 2025.
Deadline to submit applications for the Part-time Professional Practice course is the first Friday in October 2025.
Registration must be completed and fees paid well in advance of the course start date.
There is an application fee of €925 to apply for the PPC to be paid by EFT:
Bank of Ireland, College Green, Dublin 2
Account name: The Law Society of Ireland
Account number: 16304279
Branch code: 90-00-17
IBAN: IE09 BOFI 9000 1716 3042 79
BIC: BOFIIE2D
Your application fee is not a deposit, and the amount of the application fee should not be deducted from the PPC fee amount.
Once an application has been processed a refund of the application fee cannot be granted.
The Law Society of Ireland is committed to ensuring that learners with disabilities have as complete and equitable access to all facets of student life as can reasonably be provided. The Law Society recognises and values difference and is committed to promoting diversity and inclusion for the benefit of all and endorses the principles of inclusive teaching, learning, and assessment. The supports you might require may depend on the stage of your training.
Reasonable and appropriate accommodations and other supports are determined on a case-by-case basis and in accordance with the individual's certified disability/specific learning difficulty. It is important that a formal and timely application is made for such supports so that the appropriate supports can be identified and provided where necessary.
For further information on the supports and reasonable accommodations available for students training to become a solicitor at the Law Society are available at Disability Supports & Adapted Arrangements.
Depending on your circumstances you may be eligible for financial assistance for the Professional Practice Course. For example, the Law Society Access Programme can assist with reduced/waived PPC or a maintenance grant.
For further information see Funding Your Studies.
Your training solicitor/firm is under no obligation to pay your course fees. However, the payment of fees can constitute a deductible expense for tax purposes. Any training solicitor or firm wishing to know more about this should contact their local tax office. The Revenue Commissioners provide further information related to the discharging of course fees for work related courses.
Traineeship Team
- Tel: 01 672 4802
- Email: TraineeshipSection@LawSociety.ie
- Postal Address: Traineeship Section, Law School, Law Society of Ireland, Blackhall Place, Dublin, D07 VY24
- DX: 79 Dublin
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