Findlay tops legal aid earnings with £389,000 payout
Leading QC says job has been his life
A TOP QC was yesterday named as Scotland’s highest legal aid earner after his income rose by 7 per cent to nearly £390,000. Leading criminal defence lawyer Donald Findlay said legal aid was a ‘precondition for a civilised society’ as he defended the huge sum.
He added he had devoted most of his life to his job. The 67-yearold’s legal aid income rose from £362,000 to £389,000 between 2016-17 and 2017-18 – an increase of 7 per cent.
Mr Findlay said: ‘I work seven days a week, 10 or 12 hours a day, and I have done that through my whole career. The job has been my life.’
Last year he defended Craig Whyte, who was cleared of fraudulently buying Rangers, more than six years after he had taken control of the club.
The annual report of the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) for 2017-18 shows the cost to the taxpayer of legal aid was £124.4million – down from £135.7million in 2016-17.
The top 20 lawyers in the legal aid table were paid a total of £4.2million, up from roughly £4million.
The second-highest legal aid earner was former advocate depute Brian McConnachie, QC, whose total fees including VAT were £308,000 in 2017-18, up 16 per cent from £265,000.
The report follows the Scottish Government’s response to Martyn Evans’s independent review of legal aid, published in February. As part of this response, ministers
‘Long-term fall in reported crime’
announced a 3 per cent rise in legal aid fees.
Last night, Mr Findlay said that some lawyers were ‘struggling’ to earn enough from legal aid, adding: ‘The country needs a properly funded legal aid system so everyone can have access to justice regardless of whether they have money. It’s a precondition for a civilised society.’
SLAB chief executive Colin Lancaster said nearly 8,000 fewer applications were received for criminal legal assistance last year compared with 2016-17 – from 115,674 down to 107,968.
This assistance accounted for £74.1million of the yearly spend, down from £85.4million in 2016-17.
Mr Lancaster said: ‘This is not because of a reduction in funding or in the level of fees.
‘It reflects a very significant and long-term fall in reported crime and the increasing availability and use of alternatives to court prosecution.’