The Law Society of Ireland’s Entrance Exam (FE1)

Brendan graduated with a degree in English Literature from Trinity College Dublin in 1996. He was called to the Irish Bar in 2005, and has been in practice at the Bar and lecturing on professional courses since 2006. He was awarded the Antonia O’Callaghan prize for Constitutional Law in 2004.

Brendan has lectured in Constitutional law, Equity & Trusts, Company law and European law for FE1 candidates since 2008. He has also lectured on the King’s Inns Entrance Examination course in Constitutional law since 2008.

Ciarán Lawlor is a practicing Barrister and an experienced legal educator. Ciarán graduated from University College Dublin with an Honours Degree in Law, and proceeded to study at the Honorable Society of the King’s Inns . He completed his studies at the King’s Inns and was called to the Irish Bar in 2005. He subsequently completed an LLM in European Law also at UCD, graduating with distinction. 

Prior to commencing practice at the Irish Bar, Ciarán interned with leading Irish law firm A&L Goodbody, and with Amnesty International (Ireland), and was an IRCHSS funded project assistant on the EU Law PhD project at UCD. His practice focuses on civil law, with an emphasis on contract and commercial litigation, debt-collection, defamation, personal injuries, and tort law generally.  Ciarán has a broad experience of teaching law. He has been a Senior Tutor in UCD, and has lectured in tort law on the Graduate Diploma in Arbitration in UCD.

Conor Duff is a graduate of Maynooth University (LL.B.); The Honorable Society of King’s Inns (B.L) and the Law Society of Ireland (Dip. Construction law). He graduated from Maynooth University and the Law Society of Ireland with a first-class honours in both his LL.B. degree and his Diploma in Construction Law. He went on to qualify as a Barrister and has a general practice with a particular emphasis on commercial and construction disputes. He is also a member of the Irish Construction Bar Association and has attended many construction conferences including the International Construction Bar Association conference . At present, he lectures the Diploma in Anti Money Laundering at City Colleges and lectures Contract law on our FE1, King’s Inns and QLTT preparatory course.

Conor was commended for his work at undergraduate level having ranked in the second percentile in his year at Maynooth University. He also was a finalist at the Irish Law Awards for “Law Student of the Year”. He has extensive advocacy experience having won the UCC Matheson Moot Court Competition, the National Negotiation Competition going on to represent Ireland in the International negotiation competition and was a semi-finalist in the Adrian Hardiman Moot Court Competition.

Helen is a graduate of both University College Dublin and the Honorable Society of the Kings Inns. Having completed the Barrister-at-Law degree at the Honorable Society of the King’s Inns, she was called to the Bar in 2014.

She practises predominantly in the area of succession law and property law. Helen also lectures succession law as part of the City Colleges Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test (QLTT) programme.

John O’Keeffe is a Criminologist, Lecturer in Forensic Psychology & Criminal Law, and Broadcaster.

John is Director, Colleges of Criminology & Psychology at City Colleges, Dublin where he is also a Senior Lecturer in Criminal Law which he teaches on the FE1 Examinations and the Entrance Examination for the Honorable Society of King’s Inns. He is a Magistrate in the UK where he sits on the Northumbrian Bench and an Associate Member of and the New Zealand Bar Association. John is formerly Adjunct Faculty at Trinity College Dublin where he was Assistant Professor at the School of Psychology.

John is a graduate of University College Dublin, UWE Bristol, London Met. University and the University of Cambridge, where he is a life member of Homerton College. He is also an Associate Member of Exeter College, Oxford and was awarded a Doctoratus in Gister Studiorum (ad eundem Cantab.) from Trinity College, Dublin.

John was appointed a Visiting Scholar at the Centre in Crime, Justice & Policing at the University of Birmingham and teaches on the Forensic Doctoral programme(s) in the School of Psychology in Birmingham. He also holds Honorary Visiting Fellowships in the Dept. of Neuroscience, Psychology & Behaviour at the University of Leicester and Dept. of Sociology at the University of Surrey. He is currently Editor of the Garda Review. He is also a Director of the charity, AdVIC (Advocates for the Victims of Homicide).

Mark is a practising barrister and an experienced legal educator. He graduated from University College Dublin with a First Class Honours Degree in Business and Law and subsequently completed an LLM at the University of Cambridge specialising in commercial litigation and insolvency law. Mark completed the Barrister-At-Law Degree at the Honorable Society of King’s Inns and was called to the Irish Bar in 2012. His practice focuses on civil law with an emphasis on contract and commercial litigation, debt-recovery/insolvency and personal injuries.

He is also an accredited mediator and an arbitrator for the GAA Disputes Resolution Authority. Mark is a member of the New York State Bar having completed the New York State Bar Exam in 2014. He received a Bar of Ireland Scholarship in the summer of 2016 to take up a position as a visiting Attorney with the Wisconsin Innocence Project which seeks to exonerate victims of wrongful convictions. Mark has been a law tutor at University College Dublin since 2015 and has tutored tort and contract law privately for FE-1 candidates as well as lecturing in criminal and constitutional law for City Colleges.

Philip is a graduate of the University of London and the Honorable Society of King’s Inns. He was called to the Bar in 1998 and established Griffith College’s Professional Law School in the same year. He was Head of the Professional Law School at Griffith College for nine years, and Joint Head of its Undergraduate Law School. He was also a member of its board of directors.

Philip founded Independent Colleges in 2007, and served as its Chief Operating Officer and Joint Head of Law.  He is Chief Executive of the City Colleges Group (incorporating Ashfield College, City Colleges and the College of Progressive Education). He has also co-written a text on Irish Tort Law for Thomson Roundhall, and is the co-founder of Clarus Press Limited, a legal publishing house.

Simon is a graduate of University College Dublin and the Honorable Society of King’s Inns.  Having completed the Barrister-at-Law degree in the Honorable Society of the King’s Inns, he was called to the Bar in 2012.

His practice at the Bar focuses on Criminal law, Employment law, Judicial review, as well as Human Rights and Constitutional Litigation. Simon is an experienced educator having taught in the UCD School of Law since 2013.