The Courts Service is extending the current online pilot of e-licensing to solicitors’ firms in district numbers 1, 2 and 6 (counties Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim and Louth).

Solicitors’ firms that have licensing applications for premises in those counties will be able to lodge, pay and track applications for licensing online, once their user account has been activated, on Courts Service Online (CSOL).

Overview

A comprehensive overview of the e-licensing system, in the form of an instructional video, must be viewed prior to registering for, or using CSOL.

The online facility also allows searches of the electronic licensing register (e-register). Information on carrying out licensing searches on the e-register is also available.

There will be immediate and significant time-saving benefits for practitioners participating in the online pilot, as they can complete the entire licensing application process online.

This will:

• Reduce/eliminate attendance in court offices in relation to licensing,
• Enable remote access to all licensing applications,
• Provide e-service on, and advance knowledge of, all notice party intentions,
• Make court orders available electronically,
• Offer secure online payments supported by internal authorisation processes,
• Give access to online e-registers,
• Save time and costs for solicitor offices,
• Make case information available through the system.

In order to lodge a licensing application online, legal firms must register on CSOL. Information on the registration process is available below, and has been delivered through information seminars for practitioners in each of the four counties.

So that applications can be lodged online, legal firms must register their firm once on CSOL. They can then create additional users for their firm, with varying levels of access.

Chrome browser

The Google Chrome web browser must be used to enter data and access information on CSOL.

The registration process is a three-step one:

Step 1 – create account

• The first step is the creation of an account using the website www.csol.ie,
• Click on the ‘I’m new to CSOL’ button or the ‘create account’ link at the top of the screen, which requires the following data to be entered,
• Choose 'legal firm account' under account type,
• Enter first and last name (this should be the contact person designated by the firm or office in respect of CSOL as the 'legal practice administrator' user),
• Add an email address (this should be an individual email address), which will be your username on CSOL. Generic email addresses, such as info@xsolicitors.ie, will not be permitted,
• Enter the name of the firm or office. Some of this information is pre-populated from data provided by the Law Society. If your firm is not on this list, please contact the Law Society directly),
• Enter the relevant Law Society number (this is populated based on the firm of solicitors chosen in the previous field). Likewise, if this number is inaccurate, please contact the Law Society directly,
• Enter firm or office address (this is populated based on the firm of solicitors chosen in the previous field). Likewise, if this address is inaccurate, please contact the Law Society directly,
• Enter bank account details. (As agreed with the Law Society, this should be the client account – if you need to pay for an application from your office account, then a debit/credit-card payment from any other account can be selected.)

Step 2 – manual documentation for registration

• The firm/office administrator downloads the relevant documents from CSOL that are required for registration,
• These documents should then be completed in hard copy, along with other supporting documentation, as set out in CSOL, and returned to:

Central Application Support Unit,
Courts Service,
Circuit and District Court Operations
Phoenix House,
Smithfield,
Dublin 7
D07 F95Y.

Step 3 – activate firm/office account

• When the manual documentation is received by the Courts Service, an email with an activation link issues to the email address provided,
• The administrator in the firm/office follows the instructions in the email and activates a firm/office account on CSOL,
• The administrator will have full access and responsibility on CSOL to create and manage additional user accounts for their particular firm.

Online guides are available at the following links:

Legal firm registration process,
Creating and managing additional user accounts for your firm,
Activating user accounts on CSOL.

Support

Support for registration or for general use of CSOL is available by emailing casu@courts.ie.

Full implementation of the online e-licensing application to the remainder of solicitors countrywide is planned for early 2020.