Shaw named vice-president of Law Society of Ireland

Ennis-based solicitor John Shaw been named senior vice-president of the Law Society of Ireland.

A member of the Ennis firm Michael Houlihan and partners, John follows in the footsteps of Michael Houlihan, who held the position in 1983. It also puts him in line to become president of the society next November.

The Dundalk native has been living in Clare for the past 30 years and has been on the council of The Law Society for half of that time, where he has chaired a number of committees looking at ethics, complaints, finance as well as a taskforce on the future of the society.

He is currently the county solicitor for Clare and has represented private clients in high-profile actions, including the Moriarty and Mahon Tribunals.

In this new role and in anticipation of taking on the role as president of the society, Mr Shaw said there are a number of issues he will be looking at addressing in the role, particularly in light of the increase in unemployment in the sector.

Employment is the primary issue for the legal profession currently, Mr Shaw said. “This is the first time, I’d say in history, we have significant unemployment. We have something in the region of 1,200 solicitors unemployed.

“We have no way of measuring the ones who are underemployed, where you have people who would take out a practicing cert and mightn’t be making a living out of it but they’ll keep the practicing cert for qualifications.

“It’s a question of improving standards and distinguishing ourselves.

“We would also have to look at the society in terms of the services it provides to solicitors in a broader sense. Improvement in the delivery of service and the expertise needs to be looked at. We need to market solicitors more than we do,” he said.

Mr Shaw said he is happy in the role of senior vice-president and acknowledges the support he has received both from his within his own firm and at home from his wife Mary Nolan, a solicitor with Nicholas Nolan in Ennis.