Mayo solicitor named Property Lawyer of the Year

An East Mayo-based solicitor was celebrating success when she was awarded the allocade of Property Lawyer of the Year for the Connacht/Ulster region.

Swinford native Julie Doyle, a solicitor with Swinford-based legal firm, West Lex Solicitors, celebrated success in the annual Leap Irish Law Awards 2025 which took place last Friday night in Dublin's Clayton Hotel.

Julie returned to practice in Swinford in 2022, after practising in some of Dublin's leading law firms for over 20 years, joining West Lex Solicitors, a thriving practice with offices in Swinford and Athlone, run by Brendan Donnelly and former Mayo County Councillor Michael Smyth.

Julie brings her wealth of experience to the Swinford firm as she is a former chairperson of the Dublin Solicitors' Bar Association Property Law Committee having also served as an elected officer of the DSBA for over seven years. She also served on the Conveyancing Committee of the Law Society of Ireland.

She is a member of the editorial committee and regular contributor to the DSBA award winning Magazine for solicitors, The Parchment, which is edited by Pontoon native and Castlebar solicitor, John Geary. Julie is also a former chairperson of Mayo Association Dublin.

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The annual Irish Law Awards aim to recognise excellence in Ireland’s legal profession.The Irish Law Awards aim to identify, honour and publicise outstanding achievements, while also recognising those who have dedicated their lives to serving in the legal profession.

Mayo was well represented on the night as former president of the Mayo Solicitors Bar Association and well known Ballina solicitor Rosemary Loftus formed part of the judging panel.

It was a successful night for Ballina as Callan Tansey solicitors LLP, with offices in Ballina and Sligo scooped several prestigious awards including Personal Injury/Medical Negligence Law Firm of the Year, together with the Civil Litigation Law Firm of the Year (Regional Connacht/Ulster), and the award for Excellence and Innovation in Client Services (Regional Connacht/Ulster).

Ballina native, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and former President of Ireland, Mrs Mary Robinson was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award.

She was unable to attend the prestigious event held at the Clayton Hotel Dublin and instead she received her award earlier that day. The 1,000 strong crowd watched her acceptance by a personal video message as she spoke about her Lifetime Achievements in Law as a fearless advocate of Human Rights.

Some of her well known cases, amongst others included the seminal case of De Burca v the Attorney General which challenged the exemption of women from jury service, establishing the right of women to sit on juries; and Norris v Ireland before the ECHR leading to the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Ireland. Such is the significant nature of her legal achievements that despite her absence she received a standing ovation from everyone present.

Across the county, Jordan & Kennelly solicitors, a specialist law firm led by solicitor Joanna Jordan based in Castlebar won Probate Law Firm of the Year (Regional Connacht/Ulster).