Incoming lawyers should avoid trying to fit a mould in how they speak and act, Law Society 2021/22 President Michelle Ní Longáin has advised (23 May).
Speaking to trainees at a Law Society Psychological Service ‘Shrink Me’ discussion today, the president urged the value of authenticity, and warned against cliched thinking, acting in a guarded manner, or pretending to be part of an elite group.
Ní Longáin observed that there is now a considerable variety in socio-economic status in the profession, with intake from many different backgrounds.
It would be a mistake to pigeonhole all lawyers in Ireland as cut from just one cloth, or to imagine that all practitioners come from ‘legal families’, she pointed out.
“The law is open to everyone,” she said.
“If you dig a bit, you find that there is greater complexity in people's lives than first appears,” she suggested.
She cautioned against adopting a guarded “outsider” mentality, or pretending to be what one is not, whether by the car one drives or the accent one adopts.
“You don’t have to be somebody of a particular sort to get on well in law, and you’ll do better if you don’t burden yourself with any of that,” she advised.
Sharing one’s true self will lead to better career outcomes, she said.
The Law Society president also said that she hoped that the profession would also become more reflective of Irish society, and that it would be open to all as a space to use legal skills, regardless of geographic...
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