The Courts Service has proposed the creation of a "legal quarter" in an area around the Four Courts in Dublin to help regenerate the north-west inner-city and consolidate the growth of the profession.
This designation would serve to promote the quarter's identity as the "historic home" of the administration of justice, as well as concentrating legal services in a part of the city with traditional links to the profession, it states to Dublin City Council.
Significant further growth is envisaged in the sector, which already employs 3,000 people locally, with the likely relocation of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and other agencies to the area.
"The relative economic significance of the service is likely to grow as the service expands and other industries traditionally associated with the area contract. The potential of the service to further stimulate the local economy is immense," the Courts Service says.
It envisages legal services making the same contribution to the development of the Dublin 7 area as the Financial Services Centre has in the Docklands and the Digital Hub in the Liberties.
"The Courts Service and the legal institutions do not wish for the area to become an exclusive legal enclave at the expense of the local community, or other commercial or local enterprises. Rather, they wish to develop as one element in a diverse and dynamic civic precinct, an integral part of the local community," it says.
It has asked the council to add the proposal to the next development plan for Dublin, currently under consideration. It says neither tax incentives nor other State intervention is sought.
The proposed quarter would cover an area between the King's Inns, the Four Courts and the Law Society at Blackhall Place.
The proposal points out that legal services are one of the few historic industries still thriving in their original location in the city.
