For the first time in the history of the state, socialist lawyers are organising. Trainee solicitors in the Law School in Dublin have formed the Blackhall Society of Socialist Lawyers, and they are looking for barristers, solicitors, legal academics and law students to join a national network of radical lawyers.
The aim of the group is to engage in political activism through law, and use the law to advance the cause of social and environmental movements. Legal-sector workers, including solicitors, are almost entirely non-unionised, with big firms regularly taking advantage of younger trainees. The group therefore will explore, with comrades in the unions, establishing a union for legal workers.
The society is not connected to any political party or organisation, and contains people from various political backgrounds. In Britain there is a long-standing organisation of socialist lawyers, called the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers. The Irish group hopes to work closely with comrades across the water.
The trainee group has been in contact with a number of qualified legal practitioners and will be holding a meeting in Dublin on Saturday 14 January 2023. For more information, or to become involved, email IrishSocialistLawyers@gmail.com
