§ Mrs. EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the 20 firms earning most from(a) civil and (b) criminal legal aid in (i) 1996–97 and (ii) 1997–98, the number of fee earners per firm and the fees per fee earner. [43909]
§ Mr. DewarThe total earnings for the 20 solicitors' firms earning most from legal aid in 1996–97 is shown in the Scottish Legal Aid Board's Annual Report. The breakdown of these figures for 1996–97 and 1997–98 is not available in the form requested. However, the Scottish Legal Aid Board have provided figures on the basis of sums due to solicitors' firms in 1996–97. These vary from the total figures in the Annual Report which show sums actually paid and include Advice and Assistance. The figures are shown in the tables. The figures for 1997–98 are not yet available.
The Scottish Legal Aid Board does not hold information on the number of fee earners in a firm. This may well be larger than the number of practitioners registered with the Board for legal aid purposes. The figure shown for average fee per practitioner in the table is simply the total of fees earned by the firm divided by the number of practitioners listed with the Board. It is not a measure of the fees earned per practitioner in that firm.
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Firm No of practitioners1 listed with board who undertook civil legal aid Fees2 payable £ Average fees per practitioner£ Civil Drummond Miller 24 827,017 34,459 Ross Harper and Murphy 32 561,122 17,535 Balfour and Manson 15 474,333 31,622 Brodies 17 465,323 27,372 Caesar and Howie 22 317,607 14,437 Blair and Bryden 27 308,911 11,441 Unwin Rasmusen 7 258,407 36,915 Robert Carty 15 195,212 13,014 Livingstone Brown 6 176,281 29,380 Trainor Alston 13 154,722 11,902 Mckay and Norwell 8 133,027 16,628 Lockharts 5 126,372 25,274 Aberdein Considine 8 113,268 14,159 George Mathers and Co. 8 98,917 12,365 Ness Gallagher and Co. 9 88,947 9,883 The McKinstry Company 5 86,620 17,324 Hughes Dowdall 7 81,357 11,622 Fleming and Reid 2 80,252 40,126 W. G. Boyle 5 76,836 15,367 A. C. Miller and Mackay 5 72,913 14,583 Criminal Ross Harper and Murphy 36 2,101,828 58,384 More and Co. 17 1,513,436 89,026 Bruce Short and Co. 8 1,008,064 126,008 Gilfedder and McInnes 15 945,915 63,061 Adams 10 941,813 94,181 Ian McCarry 28 928,725 33,169 Sinclairs 7 831,764 118,823 Gallen and Co. 9 781,429 86,825 Robert Kerr 5 740,857 148,171 J. C. Hughes and Co. 8 733,353 91,669 McAfee 3 723,479 241,160 George Mathers and Co. 15 687,944 45,863 Milligan Telford and Morrow 6 676,217 112,703 Grady and Co. 3 661,300 220,433 Turnbull McCarron 2 617,749 308,875
Firm No of practitioners1listed with board who undertook civil legal aid Fees2 payable£ Average fees per practitioner£ McCourts 11 616,063 56,006 Blair and Bryden 23 596,633 25,941 Beltrami and Co. 6 591,594 98,599 Guarino and Kirk 4 579,119 144,780 Ness Gallagher and Co. 10 573,975 57,398 Notes:
1Where a firm wishes a qualified solicitor to act as a "nominated solicitor" for the firm, that solicitor must have his details recorded in the Board's Practitioner System, and payments to be made to that solicitor for legal aid work done can then be directed to the firm. The "number of practitioners" therefore represents the number of solicitors in the firm recorded in the Board's practitioner system. The Board is aware that not all solicitors who perform legal aid work are recorded with it as practitioners
2Including VAT and excluding outlays