‘Targeting’ of solicitors by planning board chair highlights challenges, Law Society president says

A claim by An Bord Pleanála’s interim chair that changes to planning rules will prove “very lucrative” for some solicitors underlines some of the challenges facing solicitors and citizens in ensuring access to justice, the president of the Law Society has said.

Maura Derivan was speaking to The Irish Times about the society’s preparation of a strategic review to assist in identifying and addressing the challenges facing the profession over the next five years.

As part of the review, the society has commissioned a survey of the country’s 23,000 solicitors and trainees concerning their own practices and their views on issues and opportunities for the profession. The survey was issued on April 19th with a May 2nd closing date for submission.

The review is aimed at positioning the society “where it can be most valuable to Irish society with advice, care for the public interest and for people’s access to justice”, Ms Derivan said, adding that solicitors are “the guardians of the law” and there are “pressures on people’s rights that reflects right down into practices”.

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Ms Derivan noted recent comments by An Bord Pleanála’s interim chairperson, Oonagh Buckley, that changes to planning rules here will make life “very lucrative” for solicitors who take planning judicial reviews.

In an address to the annual Irish Planning Institute conference in April, Ms Buckley said many legal firms here have “business models” associated with taking judicial reviews against the State and she singled out FP Logue LLP as one firm behind half of all legal cases taken against An Bord Pleanála. The firm has won most of those cases.

Ms Derivan said Ms Buckley had “targeted a small niche firm who specialise in judicial review and environmental issues for people”.

Many planning developments, she said, are undertaken by big commercial entities and restrictions on planning challenges raise the issue of “equality of arms”. There must be a balance between the resources available to small firms acting for a plaintiff against a large corporation, who of course want to protect their own business, she said.

“Let’s face it, the housing crisis is going on a long time and taking away the rights of residents associations is not the way to solve it,” Ms Derivan said.

“These are the areas where the Law Society and indeed solicitors need to be able to meet those challenges.”

Pressures sometimes come from the State, “the biggest defendants in the country”, she added.

“In order to give our optimum, the Law Society needs this consultation process with the profession.”

The group’s existing strategy expires next December and was prepared for a different era given the changes in society and technology and in people’s working and personal lives since Covid-19, Ms Derivan said.

Consultations and discussions got under way last year to address a wide range of issues, she explained.

Ms Derivan said there is a “deep concern” about the imbalance in solicitors’ services within and outside cities, adding that “there are many towns where the number of practices has closed and is limited”.

In relation to private family law legal aid cases, Ms Derivan said it is obviously necessary to have different solicitors for the parties involved but that is not possible in certain towns due to a lack of solicitors.

Other concerns include some proposed restrictions on disclosure of audit and other material in the Patient Safety (Notifiable Patient Safety Incidents and Open Disclosure) Bill 2019, introduced in response to the Cervical Check controversy.

Ms Derivan said the new Personal Injuries Assessment Board regime for bringing personal injuries claims does not take into account that many people are unable to cope with the trauma of an accident or injury for some time and there is a worry that some of the measures are “a result of pressure from the insurance industry”.

“The only defence between the extinguishing of a right and the citizen is a solicitor,” she said.

“They are not often portrayed as such in the media but it is solicitors who are the heroes, it is solicitors who look and see what rights of citizens need to be enhanced or are being restricted or denied.”

Ms Derivan’s own view is that the main challenges facing the profession include increased regulation, not just of the profession but across society generally; insurance costs; and the age profile of solicitors and their concentration in cities.

The society’s education department has been “fantastic” in advancing initiatives aimed at making the profession more inclusive and diverse, she said. That includes a hybrid education model which means someone can continue to work, whether in an office or elsewhere, while training as a solicitor. “It’s good for the society to have people who have worked in other areas and who bring that experience and wisdom into the legal arena.”

Following the survey, it is hoped a comprehensive strategy document will be put before the council of the society by early autumn at the latest, Ms Derivan said. “We want to hear everything, warts and all.”