HOW TO HIRE · BUSINESS & PROFESSIONAL

How to hire a solicitor in Ireland
The checks, the questions and the paperwork.

Being qualified and being entitled to practise are two different things, and the costs letter is the document every later argument depends on. Here is what to check, what to ask, and what a fair quote looks like.

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THE 60-SECOND VERSION

Hiring a solicitor in five steps

  1. Are you on the Roll of Solicitors, and is the firm regulated?Check the firm as well as the person. The client protections follow regulated firms.
  2. Who will actually do the work?The partner you met, or someone more junior? Either can be right; the rate should reflect it.
  3. What will this cost, in writing?Ask for the written costs information before anything starts. It is the basis of every later discussion about the bill.
  4. What happens if it takes longer than estimated?The honest answer involves a range and a trigger for telling you. “We'll see” is not an answer.
  5. Is the fee fixed, hourly, or a percentage?And what is outside it — outlays, searches, stamp duty, counsel's fees.

BEFORE YOU BOOK

Check before you book

the Roll of Solicitors

A person must be on the Roll AND hold a current practising certificate. Being qualified is not the same as being entitled to practise. Restricted to solicitor holding a current practising certificate: acting as a solicitor; conveyancing and the drawing of certain documents for reward; describing oneself as a solicitor.

Search the Roll of Solicitors for the name or the registration number before you agree a price. lawsociety.ie →

Costs in writing

A legal practitioner must provide a written statement of costs (a section 150 notice) as soon as practicable after taking instructions. If no written costs notice arrives, ask for it before anything else happens. It is the document every later argument about fees depends on.

Ask for the notice before you instruct anyone, and keep it: it is the document any later dispute about the bill is read against.

Insurance

Expect professional indemnity insurance is compulsory for solicitors in practice. From a company, ask for the insurer, the limit and the VAT number, and ask who actually attends: the team that turns up may be employed, subcontracted or both, and only one of those is supervised by the firm you are paying.

Ask to see the current certificate of insurance — the insurer's name, the limit and the date it runs to.

Trader or private seller

Under the Consumer Rights Act 2022 a trader must tell you they are a trader, and your consumer rights — work carried out with reasonable skill and care, and a cooling-off period on a contract agreed in your home or online — apply to traders and not to private sellers. On Locufy the trader status is shown on the profile.

Look for the trader badge on the Locufy profile, and ask anyone else for it in writing before you agree a price.

VAT

VAT at 23%, the standard rate Revenue publishes for this service. Ask whether the price you were given includes it. A trader under the €42,500 registration threshold does not charge it; one over it must, and must show it separately.

Ask whether the figure you were given includes it, and for the VAT number if they are registered — Revenue publishes the rate for this service. revenue.ie →

“Are you on the Roll of Solicitors, and is the firm regulated?”

A good answer: Check the firm as well as the person. The client protections follow regulated firms.

“Who will actually do the work?”

A good answer: The partner you met, or someone more junior? Either can be right; the rate should reflect it.

“What will this cost, in writing?”

A good answer: Ask for the written costs information before anything starts. It is the basis of every later discussion about the bill.

“What happens if it takes longer than estimated?”

A good answer: The honest answer involves a range and a trigger for telling you. “We'll see” is not an answer.

“Is the fee fixed, hourly, or a percentage?”

A good answer: And what is outside it — outlays, searches, stamp duty, counsel's fees.

“What is the VAT position?”

A good answer: On a large matter the VAT is a real number. Ask whether the quoted fee includes it.

“How will you keep me updated, and how often?”

A good answer: Agree it. Most complaints about solicitors are about silence, not about law.

“Is VAT included in that figure?”

A good answer: VAT at 23%, the standard rate Revenue publishes for this service. Ask whether the price you were given includes it. A trader under the €42,500 registration threshold does not charge it; one over it must, and must show it separately — employment Solicitor — provides guidance on employment law issues, including contracts, disputes, and workplace rights for both employees and employers.

Getting the quote right

  • The basis of charge: fixed, hourly, or percentage
  • Outlays listed separately — searches, registration, counsel, stamp duty
  • VAT at 23% shown as its own line, not folded into the price
  • What triggers a revised estimate
  • In writing, before the work starts
  • The complaints route, which a regulated firm must tell you
  • Who actually attends, and whether they are employed or subcontracted
  • The VAT number, and whether it checks out on the Revenue register
  • Two or three quotes for the SAME written scope, so the differences between them are real differences

Walk away if

  • Not on the Roll of Solicitors, or the firm is not regulated
  • No written costs information after you have given instructions
  • A fee quoted with no mention of outlays
  • No named point of contact
  • Pressure to sign before you have read it
  • Reluctance to say who is doing the work
  • They will not talk about it: complexity of the case — it is the main thing that separates a simple job from a hard one
LOW
€150
TYPICAL
€250
HIGH
€400

What a solicitor costs: €150–€400 per hour

Locufy guide prices for 2026–2027. Updated 2026. Solicitor price guide →

Guide prices compiled by the Locufy team from published Irish and UK provider price lists and 2026/27 cost guides. Updated 2026.

KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR? NOW FIND ONE

Solicitors near you, with the badges that matter shown

ID checked, trader status and one score from every review — on the card, before you message anyone. Nearest first. No account needed to look.

Or post the job free and let them come to you, or book by the hour.

  1. Look firstTheir experience — the cheapest quote is rarely the most experienced one — that is what the solicitor is judging on the first visit, and a price given without it is a guess.
  2. Agree what is being doneComplexity of the case — it is the main thing that separates a simple job from a hard one — put in writing before anyone starts, because it is the document you both read back at the end.
  3. The work itselfRegion — a provider coming to you charges for the journey as well as the work — and anything found on the day that was not in that is priced before it is started.
  4. Check it togetherAmount of time required — an extra hour on the day is usually charged at the same rate — walked against the written scope rather than against the feeling of it, while the solicitor is still there.
  5. What you are handedThe itemised invoice and any guarantee on the workmanship and the parts, resources involved — it moves the price in both directions depending on the job.

Outlays / disbursements
Costs paid out on your behalf — searches, registration, counsel — on top of fees.
Engagement letter
The document setting out what the solicitor will do and what it costs.
Practising certificate
The annual authorisation to practise. Qualification alone is not enough.
Counsel
A barrister instructed by your solicitor, charged as an outlay.
Section 150 letter
The written estimate of charges you should receive before work begins.
Disbursement
A cost the firm pays out on your behalf — a search fee, a stamp duty — listed apart from their own fee.

AFTER

When the job is done

Read the bill against the estimateLine by line. Ask about any difference immediately.
Get the documentsOriginals or certified copies, and know where they are kept.
Keep the correspondenceIt is the record if anything is questioned later.
Ask what the guarantee isOn the workmanship and on the parts, and for how long each one runs — they are usually different. legal Consultation — solicitors provide expert legal advice on various matters, such as business formation, contract negotiation, and compliance issues — under the Consumer Rights Act 2022 what was agreed is what can be relied on.

STEP 1Say it in writing, firstSay what is wrong and what you want done. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2022 the work must be carried out with reasonable skill and care, and defective work put right.
STEP 2Use the make-it-right step on LocufyUnder four stars you are asked whether to send it to the provider first; we follow it through. Then review.
STEP 3Escalate to the body that regulates itReport it to the Roll of Solicitors.
STEP 4Small claimsSmall claims covers €2,000, once you have asked in writing and given them a chance to put it right.

Hiring a solicitor: questions people ask

Search the Roll of Solicitors, and check that the FIRM is regulated too — the client protections follow regulated firms.

Always, and before substantive work starts. It is the document every later argument about the bill depends on.

Expect professional indemnity insurance is compulsory for solicitors in practice. Ask who the insurer is and what the limit is, not simply whether they have it — the cover matters most on the job nobody expected to go wrong, and a solicitor who cannot name the insurer may not be carrying any.

Somebody should be, at the start and at the end: at the start to agree what is being done and where, and at the end to walk it against the written scope before anyone leaves. A correction made on the day is a correction; the same fault found a week later is an appointment.

Complain to the firm first, in writing; a regulated firm must tell you its complaints route and the body above it.

The work, what is not included, the materials where they matter, the dates, and the total with VAT shown as its own line. A figure with none of that around it is a price and not a quote, and it is the reason two solicitor quotes for what sounds like the same job are not comparable.

MORE GUIDES

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How to hire: AccountantHow to hire: BookkeeperHow to hire: Payroll ServiceHow to hire: Tax AdvisorHow to hire: VAT ReturnsHow to hire: Self-Assessment HelpHow to hire: AuditorHow to hire: Financial AdvisorAll 701 hiring guides →

Solicitors near you

Solicitors in DublinSolicitors in CorkSolicitors in GalwaySolicitors in LimerickAll solicitors on Locufy →

Sources — checked October 2026

  1. Law Society of Ireland — find a solicitor
  2. Legal Services Regulatory Authority
  3. Legal Services Regulation Act 2015
  4. Consumer Rights Act 2022
  5. Revenue — LAWYERS/SOLICITORS SERVICES (LEGAL SERVICES) — Standard rate
  6. Revenue — current VAT rates (effective 1 January 2026)
  7. Revenue — VAT thresholds: €42,500 for a person supplying services only