Top legal aid lawyer revealed
A Black Country-born lawyer has become the highest paid legal aid barrister in the country after picking up more than £1 million last year. A Black Country-born lawyer has become the highest paid legal aid barrister in the country after picking up more than £1 million last year. Ministry of Justice figures on legal aid payments revealed Balbir Singh, head of Birmingham's Equity Chambers, was paid £1,116,000 in 2005/06. Walsall-born Mr Singh defends mainly terrorism, murder and serious fraud cases. He is the only one of the top 10 earners not to have been made a Queen's Counsel (QC), entitling him to charge higher fees. The 50-year-old former magistrates' clerk went to grammar school in Walsall before attending Walsall College. He took a law degree at Coventry Polytechnic. Read the full story in the Express & Star.
Ministry of Justice figures on legal aid payments revealed Balbir Singh, head of Birmingham's Equity Chambers, was paid £1,116,000 in 2005/06.
Walsall-born Mr Singh defends mainly terrorism, murder and serious fraud cases. He is the only one of the top 10 earners not to have been made a Queen's Counsel (QC), entitling him to charge higher fees.
The 50-year-old former magistrates' clerk went to grammar school in Walsall before attending Walsall College. He took a law degree at Coventry Polytechnic.
He is currently involved in a trial in Leeds.
Changes to the legal aid system announced a year ago were hailed as "the end of £1m-a -year criminal defence barristers." However, the reforms have not yet kicked in and the top 10 in 2005-06 drew almost £8.6m in public money.
The justice minister, Lord Falconer has repeatedly pledged an end to £1m a year legal aid barristers.
The second-highest paid was Nigel Lithman QC, who received £978,000 from the legal aid purse, followed by John C Rees QC, with £947,000.
The sums do not represent the barristers' personal earnings in any one year because the work may have taken place over a number of years, VAT is paid on the sums and they have to pay overheads.
Four of the 10 top-earning criminal barristers were from the same chambers – 2 Bedford Row in London.
The chambers' Mr Lithman, William Clegg QC, Jim Sturman QC and Howard Godfrey QC had a combined payout of £3.3m.
Legal aid totals paid out to barristers and solicitors' firms were £1.2 billion for criminal cases and £620m for civil cases.
Last year Government trouble-shooter Lord Carter of Coles outlined 62 recommendations for radical changes in the way in which solicitors and barristers are paid in England and Wales.
Criminal legal aid costs could be cut by 20 per cent over four years, freeing up more than £100m a year to be redirected to the under-funded areas of civil and family law, Lord Carter said.
