Jacquelyn E. Dunne, Solicitor & Principal of Dunne Solicitors, Kildorrery, is ranked amongst the top solicitors in the country as both she and her firm are finalists in the Irish Law Awards 2021.
Ms Dunne has been nominated in the Sole Practitioner award category, and her firm, Dunne Solicitors, is a finalist in the Regional Law Firm of the year category.
The Irish Law Awards celebrate the outstanding achievements of the finalists and recognises and rewards the high standards of excellence standards and level of service that is being delivered in the law industry. This is the ninth year of the national competition, having started in 2012.
Dunne Solicitors was launched in 2013 by Jacquelyn, and today the practice offers services in the areas of conveyancing, wills and probate, family law, employment, and litigation and court work. Ms Dunne, a native of New Inn, Tipperary, moved to Kildorrery in 2004.
She completed her solicitor training in Mitchelstown, graduating from Blackhall Place in 2008. She set up her own firm just five years later, and today is proud to be the head and sole practitioner of a young and innovative law firm.
This is Ms Dunne’s first year being nominated for the Irish Law Awards, and she is delighted to be nominated.
“I’m delighted to have my work and practice recognised and of course, I’m also looking forward to a night out in the Clayton Hotel for the Awards event. Everyone likes to get recognition and a clap on the back, but the most important thing for me is to do right by my clients.”
Jacquelyn credits her success and nomination to her ability to show that you don’t need an office on a main street to have a successful business.
“In 2013, I set up my practice. It was always my intention to start my own practice, perhaps not so early on in my career but the opportunity to do so came my way and I felt I had the drive and motivation to give it a go. I can still remember my first phone call. It came on a Friday evening after I had placed an ad in The Avondhu. In the early stages to get myself out there I contacted different community groups and offered my services to speak on any law topic that the group may have had queries on, a matter which mattered to them.
“In the first year of my business, I gave such talks to numerous groups, some of whom were in Mitchelstown, Glenroe, Kilbehenny, Ardpatrick, TO Park in Labbamologga, Ballyhooly, and Fermoy. I set up free legal advice clinics in Mitchelstown and Mallow where I would hire a room on a Saturday and advertise the free walk-in clinic. I also set up a stall at Kilmallock Mart and Fermoy Mart on mart days. Week on week, I got to meet more and more people.
“A weekly slot on a newspaper where I would write an article on a specific law subject was also a regular feature of my working week and had many readers calling me to speak about the articles. All of these early-stage meetings are what I believe formed the backbone of Dunne Solicitors. It allowed me to connect with people in a way that you can only do on a one to one basis. I only got a call a couple of weeks ago from a man that told me he met me at one of my stalls in the mart in Fermoy. That was just over 8 years ago and would you believe he still had my business card. So you have to recognise the power of connecting with people.”
“My motto is simple “I like people, I like helping people, I like to do my best for people””
“I would like to sincerely thank people for their support of me over the years and for all the recent well wishes on my nominations”
Dunne Solicitors is a member of the Southern Law Association and the Law Society of Ireland.
The finals take place in the Clayton Hotel in Dublin on 29th October. The charity partners for the Irish Law Awards 2020 are The Solicitors Benevolent Association, and The Benevolent Society of the Bar of Ireland.
