The Irish Independent reported on July 8, 2026 that the Law Society would be contacting a judge who described as "disgraceful" the fact that a man accused of murder did not have access to legal representation while in garda custody, as a result of the solicitors' dispute over legal aid fees. Our criminal defence solicitors represent clients at every stage of criminal proceedings, from Garda station advice through District Court hearings.
The case concerned a 72-year-old man charged with the murder of his wife in Co Laois. Judge Andrew Cody said the refusal by several solicitors to represent the accused could be argued to undermine his fundamental right to legal advice, and referred to a Law Society statement from October 2025 that equal access to legal representation is fundamental to a just society.
Ferrys' position
Ferrys Solicitors takes seriously the criticism that people in custody are going without advice. Nobody in the firm's criminal defence team wants an accused person, in any case and least of all a murder case, to face a garda interview or a court appearance alone.
Ferrys partner Tony Collier has set out the firm's answer to that criticism throughout the dispute. Criminal legal aid is not a service solicitors owe personally. It is a service the State is constitutionally obliged to provide to people who cannot afford a lawyer, and which private practitioners have delivered on the State's behalf under agreed terms. On July 1 the Minister replaced those terms with a flat fee of €520 per client, irrespective of the number of charges or appearances, without the substantive engagement with the Law Society that solicitors sought.
In the same week, Mr Collier told RTÉ that solicitors were anxious to return to work but that it was not viable to do so under the new scheme, and that the Minister's claim that plenty of solicitors were ready to replace those on the panel was not borne out by what was happening in the courts. Mr Collier was among a large number of solicitors who wrote to the Chief Justice and the presidents of the courts expressing concern that the constitutional rights of accused people were being breached by the State's failure to provide representation.
The Law Society's response
The Law Society said it would write to Judge Cody to provide further information on the role of the society and of individual solicitors. It said it had consistently raised "serious concerns" with the Department of Justice about the changes to the scheme and would continue to seek engagement to secure a resolution.
For clients of Ferrys, the firm's message is that the fastest route back to full representation in custody cases is for the Minister to engage with the Law Society on a workable scheme.