The annual "naming and shaming" of Legal Aid top earners begins here in the Gazette. (I now know why one of yesterdays delegates had his copy with him at yesterdays highly enjoyable training in Notts). One imagines political spin, perhaps of that highly peculiar New Labour/Daily Mail type, will follow. Governmental criticism may focus on the Bar however they have no legitimate grip with private practice given this is what the BVT proposals seek to create - fewer larger firms.

There is however one thing I do notice - three of the "Fat Cat" firms are not firms at all but Not For Profit organisations. Two, The IAS and the Refugee Legal Centre, roughly shared £27 million between them and the 4-office Public Defender Service cost £4.5 Million. I have no data to compare the NfP immigration suppliers to private practice but you will notice that the PDS took, near as damn it, half as much as top earning CDS firm Tuckers.

I have no doubt that they did an equivalent number of cases to Tuckers for that price.

Spookily the PDS cost just over half the £8 savings the DSCC has made to the fund and which is "reinvested into the legal aid scheme to enable more people to get help".