A threatened withdrawal of family law solicitors from legal aid services next week has been averted. There were also indications on Friday of a meeting on Monday between Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan and the Law Society in the separate row over a new criminal legal aid payment model for the District Courts.Department of Justice officials met on Friday with representatives of the Law Society and family solicitors in response to calls for urgent engagement over pay and civil legal aid reform. Afterwards, both sides said the meeting was “constructive” with further engagement planned. The meeting was held after a group representing lawyers on the family law legal aid private practitioners panel wrote on July 16th to O’Callaghan, urging engagement over pay and family legal aid reform in line with recommendations made in reports last year by the civil legal aid reform group.Sources said, unless there was a “meaningful” response, the lawyers would not take on any new cases but would honour their existing legal aid assignments.Any such action would mean further pressure on the Legal Aid Board, already overwhelmed by demand for international protection and other legal aid services. The board is heavily reliant on the private practitioners in access, custody, maintenance, domestic violence and other family law matters. The family lawyers’ concerns include there has been no increase in more than 20 years in family law legal aid fees. They say the private practitioner legal aid flat fee, which ranges from €339 for a single application under one Act, such as for child maintenance or access, to €508 for applications for orders under three Acts, including the Domestic Violence Act, does not reflect the workload and the number of appearances involved.[ Jim O’Callaghan v solicitors on legal aid reform – who will blink first?Opens in new window ]Separately, the Minister and department officials are expected to meet on Monday with the Law Society – the representative body for solicitors – to discuss the criminal legal aid dispute. That comes after widespread disruption in criminal courts across the country due to a withdrawal of services by criminal defence solicitors. The withdrawal action escalated after a new criminal legal aid pay model came into operation on July 1st. Defence solicitors took part in a near total withdrawal of services in the criminal courts over two days this week. Whether or not a similar action proceeds as planned next Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday depends on the outcome of Monday’s meeting, solicitor sources indicated. The new “one flat fee” payment model introduced a single fee of €520 per case, irrespective of the number of court appearances, replacing the previous model of €239.38 for a first appearance and €59.86 for each subsequent appearance. The Minister has said the old payment model was vulnerable to abuse and the new model is aimed at improving efficiency. The new model followed an internal review by the department that noted spending on criminal legal aid almost doubled from €19 million in 2015 to €37 million in 2024, despite a fall in the volume of cases. The Law Society has described the review as “flawed” and the new model as “unworkable”.