Dublin - Opportunities for Common Qualified Lawyers
Dublin - Opportunities for Common Qualified Lawyers
Anthony Matthews
8 December 2025
Why move to Dublin
It is the 2nd December, I’m looking out from a half Silicon Valley, half children’s play area vibed WeWork office over the Liffey glittering in the early winter sunlight. Blue skies drape over the rugged Wicklow Mountains and you can see people busily moving around Grand Canal Dock across the water. For those that grow up in the Southern Hemisphere, the perception of Ireland is that it is a cold (granted it is 7C today), rainy and quiet part of the world however, it couldn’t be further from the truth (apart from the cold) looking out at Dublin today.
With some of the world’s largest technology, aviation and financial institutions basing their European HQs or having a large presence in Ireland, the legal market continues to be busy and is becoming an increasingly popular destination for overseas qualified lawyers, especially those from Australia, Canada, New Zealand & South Africa. This article will hopefully answer a few questions on what overseas lawyers can expect from the Fair City.
Dublin as a City
Culturally and historically, Dublin is one of the most fascinating cities in Europe. Home of Guinness, trad music and the spice bag! It also has many theatres, great dining and entertainment venues. Dublin is also known as a huge sporting city with rugby union, football or GAA played most weekends (don’t expect any cricket though!)
Dublin is also the gateway to a country filled with outdoor activities, festivals, incredible scenery and most importantly, it is the home to Ryanair! With Dublin Airport a 20-minute taxi from Grand Canal Dock, you can finish up with work in Dublin on the Friday evening and be in London for dinner or Madrid for evening cocktails!
The Legal Market
The Dublin market has been resilient to recent headwinds in the global economy and, pound for pound (euro for euro), has been busier than London. Although the deal sizes aren’t what they are across the Irish Sea, lawyers benefit from a diverse range of matters working for clients in industries such as technology, aviation and renewable energy.
Since Covid, Dublin has become more and more popular with Antipodean lawyers and vice versa with Irish lawyers moving to Australia. As such, more firms have become open to hiring from the Australian and New Zealand markets and most of the larger firms in Dublin have at least 10 Kiwis or Australians in their ranks. Alongside Antipodeans, in more transactional practice areas – corporate, finance etc. – firms are open to hiring associates qualified in Canada and South Africa.
Dublin vs London
Dublin and London have a long and complicated history it’s fair to say but from a legal standpoint, firms work closely, often instructing one another on Irish or UK matters. However, London remains the only truly global legal centre in Europe and attracts a number of the best lawyers from the Dublin market.
We are aware that not everyone is moving to Dublin as the final destination and using Dublin as a springboard to London is a well-trodden path. Firms in Dublin are aware of this and although they would love to keep you longer, they are often sympathetic for the reasons that people are moving.
Over the years, we’ve seen a number of common law qualified lawyers make the move from Dublin to London when it would have been a much trickier move from their original firm back home. Yes, it may mean that your move to London is delayed by 18 months or so but you will still gain great experience in Ireland and have a great time!
Firms
Although there has been some changes over the last few years with international firms entering the market, the largest firms in Dublin and those most likely to hire overseas candidates, are independent Irish firms. The most prominent firms in the market are: A&L Goodbody, Arthur Cox, Matheson, McCann FitzGerald & William Fry.
Practice Areas
Like London, it is easier to make the international move across transactional areas: Corporate, finance etc. however, there can also be more options in Dublin across areas like: Real estate, disputes, tax etc. than you would find in London.
PQE Discount
One of the major benefits of moving to Ireland is the PQE discount on overseas lawyers isn’t as severe as London. In general, most firms will deduct just 12 months from your level at home.
Salaries & Hours
Unfortunately, Irish firms don’t pay the same rates as the larger firms in London but this does result in fewer hours than you’d expect with a large UK or US firm in London. Generally speaking, NQs with top firms in Ireland earn around €75,000-80,000 (A$133,000 – A$142,000 / NZ$152,000 - NZ$162,000) as a base salary, rising to around €120-130,000 (A$213,000 - A$230,000 / NZ$243,000 – NZ$264,000) at Senior Associate.
Cost of Living & Income Tax
Dublin isn’t the cheapest city in the world to live in and the cost of living is similar to what you would see in Sydney or London however, with Dublin being much smaller, Dubliners don’t spend anywhere near as much on travel as Sydneysiders or Londoners and many lawyers can live within walking distance of work.
A helpful approximation of what your take home pay would look like can be found at this link - You can work out what your take home would be using this tax calculator - https://ie.talent.com/tax-calculator
NEXT STEPS
Dublin sound like something that could be of interest? Contact myself – anthony.matthews@matthewsandcarter.com and I’d be happy to speak about options in the Irish market.
Anthony P Matthews
Why move to Dublin
It is the 2nd December, I’m looking out from a half Silicon Valley, half children’s play area vibed WeWork office over the Liffey glittering in the early winter sunlight. Blue skies drape over the rugged Wicklow Mountains and you can see people busily moving around Grand Canal Dock across the water. For those that grow up in the Southern Hemisphere, the perception of Ireland is that it is a cold (granted it is 7C today), rainy and quiet part of the world however, it couldn’t be further from the truth (apart from the cold) looking out at Dublin today.
With some of the world’s largest technology, aviation and financial institutions basing their European HQs or having a large presence in Ireland, the legal market continues to be busy and is becoming an increasingly popular destination for overseas qualified lawyers, especially those from Australia, Canada, New Zealand & South Africa. This article will hopefully answer a few questions on what overseas lawyers can expect from the Fair City.
Dublin as a City
Culturally and historically, Dublin is one of the most fascinating cities in Europe. Home of Guinness, trad music and the spice bag! It also has many theatres, great dining and entertainment venues. Dublin is also known as a huge sporting city with rugby union, football or GAA played most weekends (don’t expect any cricket though!)
Dublin is also the gateway to a country filled with outdoor activities, festivals, incredible scenery and most importantly, it is the home to Ryanair! With Dublin Airport a 20-minute taxi from Grand Canal Dock, you can finish up with work in Dublin on the Friday evening and be in London for dinner or Madrid for evening cocktails!
The Legal Market
The Dublin market has been resilient to recent headwinds in the global economy and, pound for pound (euro for euro), has been busier than London. Although the deal sizes aren’t what they are across the Irish Sea, lawyers benefit from a diverse range of matters working for clients in industries such as technology, aviation and renewable energy.
Since Covid, Dublin has become more and more popular with Antipodean lawyers and vice versa with Irish lawyers moving to Australia. As such, more firms have become open to hiring from the Australian and New Zealand markets and most of the larger firms in Dublin have at least 10 Kiwis or Australians in their ranks. Alongside Antipodeans, in more transactional practice areas – corporate, finance etc. – firms are open to hiring associates qualified in Canada and South Africa.
Dublin vs London
Dublin and London have a long and complicated history it’s fair to say but from a legal standpoint, firms work closely, often instructing one another on Irish or UK matters. However, London remains the only truly global legal centre in Europe and attracts a number of the best lawyers from the Dublin market.
We are aware that not everyone is moving to Dublin as the final destination and using Dublin as a springboard to London is a well-trodden path. Firms in Dublin are aware of this and although they would love to keep you longer, they are often sympathetic for the reasons that people are moving.
Over the years, we’ve seen a number of common law qualified lawyers make the move from Dublin to London when it would have been a much trickier move from their original firm back home. Yes, it may mean that your move to London is delayed by 18 months or so but you will still gain great experience in Ireland and have a great time!
Firms
Although there has been some changes over the last few years with international firms entering the market, the largest firms in Dublin and those most likely to hire overseas candidates, are independent Irish firms. The most prominent firms in the market are: A&L Goodbody, Arthur Cox, Matheson, McCann FitzGerald & William Fry.
Practice Areas
Like London, it is easier to make the international move across transactional areas: Corporate, finance etc. however, there can also be more options in Dublin across areas like: Real estate, disputes, tax etc. than you would find in London.
PQE Discount
One of the major benefits of moving to Ireland is the PQE discount on overseas lawyers isn’t as severe as London. In general, most firms will deduct just 12 months from your level at home.
Salaries & Hours
Unfortunately, Irish firms don’t pay the same rates as the larger firms in London but this does result in fewer hours than you’d expect with a large UK or US firm in London. Generally speaking, NQs with top firms in Ireland earn around €75,000-80,000 (A$133,000 – A$142,000 / NZ$152,000 - NZ$162,000) as a base salary, rising to around €120-130,000 (A$213,000 - A$230,000 / NZ$243,000 – NZ$264,000) at Senior Associate.
Cost of Living & Income Tax
Dublin isn’t the cheapest city in the world to live in and the cost of living is similar to what you would see in Sydney or London however, with Dublin being much smaller, Dubliners don’t spend anywhere near as much on travel as Sydneysiders or Londoners and many lawyers can live within walking distance of work.
A helpful approximation of what your take home pay would look like can be found at this link - You can work out what your take home would be using this tax calculator - https://ie.talent.com/tax-calculator
NEXT STEPS
Dublin sound like something that could be of interest? Contact myself – anthony.matthews@matthewsandcarter.com and I’d be happy to speak about options in the Irish market.
Anthony P Matthews