Professor Catherine Donnelly granted title of Senior Counsel and called to the Inner Bar
Professor Catherine Donnelly is one of thirty-seven legal practitioners granted Patent of Precedence.
Details of 37 legal practitioners who are to be granted the title of Senior Counsel have today been published. The list comprises 20 barristers and 17 solicitors whose names have been approved by the Government following the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on the grant of Patents of Precedence.
The grant of a Patent of Precedence, in relation to a barrister, entitles him or her to be called to the Inner Bar and to use the title of Senior Counsel. In relation to a solicitor, it entitles him or her to use the title of Senior Counsel.
This is the first time that solicitors have been allowed apply for the title of Senior Counsel under the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015. This follows the establishment by the Legal Services Regulatory Authority of the Advisory Committee on the grant of Patents of Precedence in April 2020.
The Government approved the recommendations of the Advisory Committee on the grant of Patents of Precedence at its cabinet meeting on Tuesday 1st September 2020. Following the receipt of formal notification today [Thursday 3rd September] from the Department of the Taoiseach.
The full list of legal practitioners to be granted Patents of Precedence to use title Senior Counsel can be found here.