Finding meaning, support, and community in a profession under pressure.

“Bring back the real. Bring back the mess. Bring back the colour. When people are allowed to be human, performance doesn’t drop — it rises.”

Antoinette Moriarty, of the Law Society of Ireland, joins Sam Rockey to chat about the forces reshaping legal work: the lure of certainty versus the reality of complexity, AI’s threat-and-opportunity, and identity shifts within a status-driven profession.

Drawing on psychotherapy, group analysis, and her “This Is Absurd” festival, Antoinette reframes overwhelm as a signal — not a failure — to rebuild community, language, and leadership in law. They talk existentialists, Sisyphus and making meaning amid geopolitical flux, polarisation, and the “anti-fact” moment. Antoinette argues for richer language — kindness, compassion, forgiveness — precisely where business jargon falls short, and shows how leaders can hold ambiguity without rushing to premature certainty.

From celebrating the profession’s ethical role to designing joyful, cross-disciplinary gatherings, this conversation offers concrete ways to reduce isolation, renew purpose and restore courage in a system that often asks the impossible.

Practical, humane, and hopeful — this episode maps how lawyers can thrive without losing what makes the law matter. Connect with Antoinette on LinkedIn · Law Society of Ireland website · Justice Matters newsletter · Gazette magazine · Website · LinkedIn · Follow on Instagram · Connect with Tracey Camilleri on LinkedIn · Connect with Sam Rockey on LinkedIn