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2026 Statistics
Key Facts: FE-1 Equity Exam
1 of 8
FE-1 Subjects
Law Society of Ireland
3 hours
Single Paper (3.5 hours online)
Law Society of Ireland
Answer 4 of 5
Essay/Problem Questions
Law Society of Ireland
50%
Pass Mark per Subject
Law Society of Ireland
~EUR 128
Fee per Subject (2026)
Law Society of Ireland
100+
Practice Questions Here
OpenExamPrep question bank
FE-1 Equity is one of eight subjects in the Law Society of Ireland's FE-1 entrance examination for intending solicitors. It is assessed by a single three-hour paper (3.5 hours online) of five essay and problem questions, of which candidates answer four, with a 50% pass mark. The syllabus runs from the nature of equity and the maxims through equitable remedies - injunctions (the Campus Oil / Merck v Clonmel test), Mareva and Anton Piller orders, specific performance, rectification, and estoppel - to the law of trusts. Trusts topics include the three certainties, the classification and constitution of trusts, resulting and constructive trusts (especially the family home), charitable trusts and cy-pres under the Charities Act 2009, trustees' duties, breach of trust, and tracing. The paper is set in Irish law and tested on leading Irish and English authorities. The FE-1 is held twice yearly, each subject is sat individually, and all eight subjects must be passed within seven years of the first pass before progressing to a training contract and the Professional Practice Course.
Sample FE-1 Equity Practice Questions
Try these sample questions to test your FE-1 Equity exam readiness. Each question includes a detailed explanation. Start the interactive quiz above for the full 100+ question experience with AI tutoring.
1A plaintiff applies to the Irish High Court for an interlocutory injunction to restrain an alleged breach of contract. Applying the leading Irish authority, which formulation correctly states the first threshold the plaintiff must satisfy?
A.The plaintiff must show a strong prima facie case amounting to near certainty of success
B.The plaintiff must prove on the balance of probabilities that it will succeed at trial
C.The plaintiff must establish that there is a fair, bona fide or serious question to be tried
D.The plaintiff must demonstrate that the defendant has acted with bad faith or malice
Explanation: In Campus Oil Ltd v Minister for Industry and Energy (No 2) [1983] IR 88, the Supreme Court held that the applicant for an interlocutory injunction need only establish a fair, bona fide or serious question to be tried, not that it will probably succeed. This remains the foundational Irish threshold, confirmed in Merck Sharp & Dohme v Clonmel Healthcare [2019] IESC 65.
2In Merck Sharp & Dohme Corp v Clonmel Healthcare Ltd [2019] IESC 65, how did O'Donnell J refine the Irish approach to the adequacy of damages in interlocutory injunction applications?
A.He held that adequacy of damages is an absolute precondition that must be answered before any balance of convenience is considered
B.He held that adequacy of damages applies only to mandatory and not prohibitory injunctions
C.He abolished any consideration of the adequacy of damages in Irish injunction law
D.He held that adequacy of damages should be considered as part of the balance of convenience rather than as a separate antecedent hurdle
Explanation: In Merck v Clonmel [2019] IESC 65, O'Donnell J reasserted the flexibility of the remedy and held that the adequacy of damages, while often the most important factor, should be weighed within the overall balance of convenience rather than treated as a rigid antecedent hurdle. The Court warned against applying Campus Oil/American Cyanamid as mechanical rules.
3An applicant seeks a mandatory interlocutory injunction compelling a defendant to reconnect a severed utility supply pending trial. What heightened standard do the Irish courts generally apply to such mandatory interlocutory relief?
A.Only that there is a fair question to be tried, the same as for prohibitory injunctions
B.Proof beyond reasonable doubt of the underlying right
C.No threshold at all, as mandatory injunctions are granted as of right
D.A strong case that is likely to succeed at trial
Explanation: Irish courts (following Maha Lingam v HSE [2005] IESC 89) require an applicant for a mandatory interlocutory injunction to show a strong case that is likely to succeed at trial, a higher threshold than the ordinary Campus Oil fair-question standard, because such orders alter rather than preserve the status quo.
4A bank fears that a defendant who owes a substantial debt is about to transfer his assets out of the jurisdiction to defeat any judgment. Which equitable remedy is designed to prevent the dissipation or removal of assets pending trial?
A.A Mareva injunction
B.A quia timet declaration of trust
C.An order for specific performance
D.An Anton Piller order
Explanation: A Mareva (freezing) injunction restrains a defendant from dissipating, concealing or removing assets so as to frustrate the enforcement of a future judgment. It is available in Ireland in exceptional cases where a real risk of dissipation is shown.
5A plaintiff in an intellectual property dispute fears the defendant will destroy incriminating documents before trial. Which order permits the plaintiff's representatives to enter the defendant's premises to inspect and preserve evidence?
A.A Mareva injunction
B.An Anton Piller order
C.A prohibitory perpetual injunction
D.An order for rectification
Explanation: An Anton Piller order is an exceptional pre-trial order permitting the applicant to enter the respondent's premises to inspect, copy or remove documents and material that might otherwise be destroyed or concealed. Its purpose is the preservation of evidence, and it is granted only where the risk of destruction is real.
6Which of the following best states the equitable maxim that underlies the refusal of relief to a plaintiff who has himself acted unconscionably in the matter before the court?
A.Equity follows the law
B.He who comes to equity must come with clean hands
C.Equity will not assist a volunteer
D.Delay defeats equity
Explanation: The maxim 'he who comes to equity must come with clean hands' means that a plaintiff seeking equitable relief must not himself be tainted by impropriety connected to the subject matter of the claim. Unclean hands can bar discretionary equitable remedies such as specific performance or injunctions.
7A settlor purports to make a voluntary gift of shares but fails to complete the registration transfer that the law requires to vest legal title. The intended donee, having given no consideration, asks equity to perfect the gift. Which maxim most directly governs the court's refusal?
A.Equity will not assist a volunteer / equity will not perfect an imperfect gift
B.Equity acts in personam
C.Equity looks on that as done which ought to be done
D.Where the equities are equal the first in time prevails
Explanation: Equity will not assist a volunteer and will not perfect an imperfect gift. Where a settlor has not done everything necessary to transfer legal title and the donee gave no consideration, equity will not step in to complete the transfer (Milroy v Lord), subject to limited exceptions such as the every-effort rule in Re Rose.
8Which three certainties must be present for a valid express private trust to be created?
A.Certainty of capacity, certainty of formality, and certainty of purpose
B.Certainty of intention, certainty of subject matter, and certainty of objects
C.Certainty of motive, certainty of value, and certainty of duration
D.Certainty of consideration, certainty of writing, and certainty of registration
Explanation: Following Knight v Knight, a valid express private trust requires the three certainties: certainty of intention to create a trust, certainty of the subject matter (the trust property and the beneficial shares), and certainty of objects (the beneficiaries). Absence of any of the three is generally fatal to the trust.
9A testator leaves property to his widow 'in full confidence that she will do what is right by my children.' On the modern approach to certainty of intention, what is the most likely effect of such precatory language?
A.It is precatory only and generally fails to impose a trust, leaving the widow absolute owner
B.It automatically creates a binding trust in favour of the children
C.It creates a charitable trust for the advancement of education
D.It creates a resulting trust to the testator's estate
Explanation: Words expressing a hope, wish or confidence (precatory words) generally do not show the imperative intention required to create a trust; following Lambe v Eames and Re Adams and the Kensington Vestry, such language usually leaves the recipient absolute owner. Certainty of intention requires that the words be construed as imposing an obligation.
10A settlor declares a trust over 'the bulk of my estate' for named beneficiaries. The remaining provisions are clear. What is the likely consequence of this description for the validity of the trust?
A.The trust fails for uncertainty of subject matter because the property is not identifiable
B.The trust is valid because 'the bulk' is a recognised legal quantity
C.The trust fails for uncertainty of objects
D.The trust takes effect as a charitable trust
Explanation: A trust requires certainty of subject matter; a vague description such as 'the bulk' of an estate is too uncertain to identify the trust property (Palmer v Simmonds), so the trust fails for uncertainty of subject matter. Conceptual vagueness about the property, not the beneficiaries, is the defect here.
About the FE-1 Equity Practice Questions
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