The Law Society Small Practice Training Grant was given to six legal firms countrywide in 2023.

The grant can make a real difference to a rural practice’s ability to continue to provide much-needed legal services and expert advice in its local community.

The legal firms are located in counties Offaly, Westmeath, Kilkenny, Limerick, Monaghan, and Kerry.

In 2020, the Law Society launched the Small Practice Training Grant scheme to boost solicitor traineeship opportunities in practices outside the main urban districts.

Law Society Director General Mark Garrett has flagged the emergence of ‘legal deserts’ with a paucity of trainee solicitors in certain regions countrywide.

A 2023 Law Society survey found that almost nine in ten trainees were in large urban areas such as Dublin and Cork.

The Law Society has responded to this situation with innovative and flexible routes to qualification as a solicitor.

The Small Practice Training Grant provides funding of €18,000 to the training firm over the course of the two-year training contract.

It will also provide funding of €7,000 to the trainee solicitor by way of a discount on the Professional Practice Course (PPC) fee.

Introduction

A total of 21 grants of €18,000 have been awarded since the introduction of the scheme, with six grants awarded in 2023 – up from five in 2022.

The successful recipient firms will also receive monthly payments to support the training contracts.

The Small Practice Traineeship Grant can offer trainee solicitors the opportunity to stay in their local communities, without having to relocate to Dublin.