Demand for tougher scrutiny after lawyers pocket almost £80m in legal aid payments

A DUP MLA has expressed concern after it was revealed that tens of millions of pounds are being paid in legal aid fees to solicitors’ firms and barristers in Northern Ireland every year.

According to figures published by the Department of Justice (DoJ), almost £80m was handed over in the 2017/18 financial year.

In response to a written Assembly question tabled by the DUP’s Jim Wells, who no longer speaks for the party since he had the whip removed, the DoJ listed the largest total payments made to the top 25 barristers and 25 solicitors’ firms each year from the legal aid fund.

The top 25 barristers received £6.9m in fees in 2017/18 — some 26% of the total amount of all fees paid out by the Legal Services Agency, which is responsible for legal aid payments.

At £19.7m, the top 25 solicitors’ firms received 37% of the total amount paid out from the fund.

Mr Wells questioned whether the payments represented value for money.

“These figures detail a shocking amount of money. About a third of all legal aid money is being paid to the top 25 barristers or solicitors,” he said.

“This is only from legal aid — it’s not their entire earnings.

“We are in times of financial stringency and meanwhile, with all of that going on, we have this huge amount of money being given to solicitors and barristers.

“How can you justify this, given the huge pressures that health, education and Translink are under? How can we justify paying kings’ ransoms to barristers, solicitors and the legal profession?

“If you’re going to cut services to the public, you are going to have to cut legal aid. No one seems to have any sense of discretion in terms of bringing value for money to this. The bill simply goes in and is paid.”

The DoJ said payments received in each financial year do not necessarily reflect work carried out, as cases may have lasted more than one year.

Overall earnings may have also been increased by one large case lasting a number of years for which payment was received during one particular financial year.

While legal aid payments to barristers and solicitors’ firms run into the tens of millions, they have decreased over the years.

In 2014/15 payments totalling £34.8m were made to barristers, while £70.5m was paid to solicitors’ firms. This is compared with £26.2m and £52.8m in 2017/18 respectively.

Mr Wells originally asked Justice Minister Naomi Long to publish a list of the names of the top 25 solicitors’ firms and barristers. However, this request was denied because of GDPR rules.

“The information requested is not available in the format requested as it constitutes personal data which can only be processed in accordance with the data processing principles set out in the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR),” a DoJ spokesperson explained.

The Legal Services Agency previously published the personal earnings of solicitors and barristers, but this practice was stopped in 2014/15.

“The agency will be consulting in 2020/21 on the release of information from 2015/16 onwards under the General Data Protection Regulations,” the DoJ spokesperson added.

Mr Wells said he would be pushing for such information to be made public.

“I am calling on the Justice Minister to publish who got what, not just the sum total,” he said.

“The sum total, even if it’s not broken down, still tells me that there is something seriously wrong with the money we are paying to the top barristers and solicitors in Northern Ireland.”

The DoJ had not responded to a request for comment on the matter by the time of going to press.