Legal aid work earns former MSP £300,000

FORMER Labour MSP Gordon Jackson, QC, has retained his title as Scotland’s top legal aid earner for the fourth year in a row.

Mr Jackson received a total of £298,500 from the Scottish Legal Aid Board (Slab) in 2013-14, a drop of 8 per cent on the year before.

His high-profile clients during this period included Colin Coates, one of the killers of businesswoman Lynda Spence, and James Dunleavy, who murdered his mother, Philomena, and dismembered her body in Edinburgh.

Mr Jackson saw off competition from renowned QC Donald Findlay, who took second place with £277,900 in publicly funded earnings. Mr Findlay saw his payments decrease by 7 per cent on the previous year.

Ian Duguid, QC, was third on the list, with payments of £274,900, followed by advocate Tony Graham on £272,500 and Ronaldo Renucci on £262,500.

Mr Jackson received £323,100 in legal aid payments in 2012-13 and £407,600 in 2011-12.

The figures, released by Slab yesterday, showed Iain Paterson was the highest earning solicitor-advocate with payments of £279,300 to his firm.

In second place was prominent human rights lawyer John Scott, whose firm received £227,100 – an increase of 18 per cent on last year.

The top-earning legal firm was Livingstone Brown solicitors, of Glasgow, who received payments totalling £1,932,100 – a drop of 8 per cent from the previous year.

Iain A Robertson, chairman of Slab, said: “This is by far the most challenging time for legal aid in Scotland since my appointment.

“The continuing pressure on public finances has led Scottish ministers to seek further savings and efficiencies in legal aid expenditure, and legal aid must play its part in achieving savings.”