Jim O’Callaghan v the Lawyers: The high-stakes legal aid showdown

Jim O’Callaghan is a politician with leadership ambitions and a reform agenda. But in his bid to overhaul Ireland’s legal system, he has picked a high-stakes fight with a formidable adversary: the lawyers of Ireland.It has been a month since solicitors withdrew their services in a deepening row over criminal legal aid fees, and tensions look to be escalating.At the heart of the controversy is a new flat-fee payment model introduced by the Justice Minister, which he argues is necessary to cont...