Increase in Northern Irish Legal Aid Payments

Thu, 17 Jun 2010

There was an increase in the amount earned by Northern Irish law firms from legal aid last year, though there was a particularly big increase in the amount earned by individual barristers . Barristers received a total of £35 million for legal aid work in 2009/10, compared with £25.5 million in the previous year, while solicitors firms also enjoyed an increase, albeit on a lesser extent, with earnings up from £58 million to £62 million.

Individual barristers once again earned more than £1 million a year in some instances, continuing the trend first established in 2008/09. This year, however, individual barristers have not been named, though legal firms had no such objection to being named.

The Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission (NILSC) said that the increase can be partly explained by the retrospective payments made for work undertaken in previous years. Indeed, one case lasted many years and was settled this year. Some of the money may also be repaid to the Legal Aid Fund in cases where the person receiving legal aid recovers legal costs from their opponent.
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