Shortage of Lawyers in the RRR areas and Unemployment in Ireland
Our principal lawyer, Mrs Anne O'Donoghue was interviewed last night on 2UE's Legal Matters with Tim Shaw. Click here to listen to the interview
Mrs O'Donoghue was interviewed following the publication of the article "Plea goes out for lawyers, to be sure" by Natalie O'Brien in the Sun Herald.
She addressed the issue of Australia's shortage of lawyers in the Rural area and how Ireland's high unemployment rate is affecting the legal industry.
The Law and Justice Foundation Paper on "Recruitment and Retention of Lawyers in Rural, Regionial and Remote New South Wales: Summary Report" indicated that the more remote the area, the higher the likelihood of recruitment and retention problems arising.
According to the report, in the Far West region of NSW, there are currently only 10 private and public solicitors in the region (which means one resident solicitor for every 2,000 persons). Furthermore, in the North Western and Murrumbidgee regions of NSW, there are currently only one resident solicitors for every 1,000 persons.
Furthermore, according to Law Society of Ireland's director general Ken Murphy, there are currently 1,000 to 1,300 unemployed solicitors in Ireland.
With the over-supply of lawyers in Ireland, Mrs O'Donoghue illustrated how that can be the solution of Australia's current shortage of lawyers in the Rural, Regional and Remote areas.
However, Australia's immigration policy and rules of legal admission for foreign lawyers to be admitted in Australia is making the process more complex and difficult.
For example, Irish lawyers who have been admitted in Ireland (regardless of how long they have practiced in Ireland) need to still undertake Ethics and Trust Accounting subjects before they can be admitted in Australia.
Irish lawyers who have not been admitted in Ireland need to complete an equivalent of Practical Legal Training in Ireland before they complete the unexempted aspects of Australia's Practical Legal Training requirement leading up to their admission in Australia.
For some visas (General Skilled Migration and 856 Employer nomination schemes), admission in Australia is a requirement for them to practice as a solicitor, as it is considered their skills assessment.
Furthermore, the Solicitor's Regulation Authority in England and Wales has reportedly entered into negotiations with the Law Society of Ireland to set up a training module for Irish solicitors as it was recorded that more and more Irish solicitors are applying to practice in the UK as recession takes toll.
Mrs O'Donoghue is suggesting that Australian lawschools could start a conversation with Irish lawschools to see whether or not a more streamlined process of education can be implemented. Currently, Ireland's universities are listed in the Top 200 World Universities Rankings of 2010.
