Allen & Overy are a London based law firm and considered to be one of the most prestigious law firms in the world. According to the Irish Times, they generated fees of approximately €545,900 for the Law Society of Ireland, in 2019, in practice licenses – and yet they don’t have an Irish office.
“The law firm with the seventh-highest number of solicitors entitled to practice law in the Republic doesn’t have an office here… Allen & Overy LLP, had 206 solicitors with a practising certificate from the Law Society at the end of 2019. Practising certificates cost €2,650 per annum and practising law in the Republic without a certificate is an offence. The fees from Allen & Overy would have generated €545,900 for the Law Society last year” (Irish Times, Feb 2020).
According to the Irish Times, they ranked just behind William Fry who IrishLegal.com claim have 136 practising solicitors while ranking just ahead of Byrne Wallace who has 211 in a list of the top 20 Irish law firms ranked in terms of the number of solicitors with an Irish practising certificate.
It’s believed that “solicitors from Allen & Overy, which had not featured in the top 20 list produced last year by the Law Society, took out 206 practising certificates last year” (Irish Times, Feb 2020). This is no doubt fuelled by Brexit and its many uncertainties which loom in the shadows.
It’s believed that many of the practice licenses that have been taken out over the last year are by solicitors belonging to significant blue-chip UK law firms, many of whom have also opened offices in Dublin as part of their preparations for Brexit.
Source: Irish Times, Feb 2020.