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New president to focus on diversity and inclusion

Patrick Dorgan is the 148^th president of the Law Society, continuing a 177-year tradition since the election of the first president in 1841.

Patrick will serve a 12-month term at the head of the Irish solicitors’ profession, which comprises over 10,800 practising solicitors. The election was finalised at the 8 November Council meeting.

“It is a great honour to be elected president of the Law Society at a time when there are over 18,000 names on the Roll of Solicitors,” he said.

“The profession is growing rapidly, with nearly 1,000 solicitors added to the Roll last year.”

Outlining his priorities for his term in office, Mr Dorgan highlighted diversity and inclusion within the profession.

“We are proud of the strides made in terms of equality and diversity within the Irish solicitors’ profession over many years, and never more so than when we became the first legal profession worldwide to achieve gender parity in 2015,” he said.

“We are now looking ahead, and one of my priorities as president will be to build on that achievement and further develop the strong policy of diversity and inclusion that is already at the core of the profession’s values.”

Future-proof

Mr Dorgan highlighted the opportunities that technology holds for solicitors and the wider legal profession in providing future-proof legal services and advice to businesses.

“Business is worried about the effects of Brexit and political change throughout Europe and the US in particular. Technology has profoundly changed the way we do business and go about our lives,” he said.

“Approached intelligently, these challenges are opportunities for smart businesses to thrive in new ways, and the solicitors’ profession is no different – it is younger, more diverse, more tech savvy, and generally more switched on to what business and consumers need from their lawyers than ever before.”

Real estate group

Patrick Dorgan is a partner in the property and real estate group at the Cork headquarters of Ronan Daly Jermyn. He is a leading authority on commercial conveyancing law and practice and is a former chair of the Society’s Conveyancing Committee.

He was the chair of the Society’s eConveyancing Implementation Board, tasked with the development of and transition to electronic conveyancing. Mr Dorgan has been on the Council for almost 20 years and has served on most of its committees.

He was executive chair of the SMDF until its recent trade sale.