Just another example of legal theft. Happens all the time and nothing is done about and never will be.

tony freeman, tampa, usa

DTI and or it's advisers who drafted initial contract to blame. The lawyers are taking fees which they are entitled to under the agreement. Readers should spot common denominator here e.g. " overgenerous" GP contracts or Chinooks that cant fly as essential software code clause not in contract.

Larry, Winterbourne, England

I agree that there is something terribly wrong with the imbalance, but:
Tony Campbell, Northampton: I am curious - do you hand back 70% of your salary each month?
Michael Lockhart, Australia - your comments are so wide of the mark as to be irrelevant. This has nothing at all to do with judges.

Brian, Leeds, UK

so all the staff working to get the miners what the DTI was willing to pay them for their illness did not deserve to get paid for the 3 years or so it can take to win compensation? if the dti refuses to compensate the miner then the firm who ran the case get nothing for all the work they have done.

Rob, Doncaster, England

THe DTI fixed the fee scale at far too high a rate - most of these personal injury claims are very much in the same mould, and and could have been handled by comparatively junior staff with minimal supervision by a partner - GBP500 tops a case!

Chris Robinson, Hong Kong, Hong Kong

In the same week that a top Army officer complained about the low salaries paid to soldiers fighting, and sometimes dying, in operations, including in Afghanistan, Iraq, etc, how odd to hear the mammoth sums mined by such solicitors as Mr Beresford, legally! Something wrong, surely.

John Nagenda, Kampala, UGANDA

How I wish that town planning consultancies could operate similar rackets.

Arnold Ward, Weybridge, Surrey, UK

What a sick Country we live in now. MP's sponging of taxpayers, Lawyers sponging of taxpayers. Kids killing themselves with knives and guns. MP's dont bother appearing at House of Commons to debate because they are too busy spending their expenses ripped off from taxpayers etc etc etc Nice !!.

John, Woking, Surrey

Adverts for miners' compensation have littered local newspapers for years. My grandparents were claimants. To think that a large proportion of this money has gone to pay some so-called 'entrepreneur' is despicable. Capitalism should also have its morals. A pity some people have forgotten.

victoria, Doncaster,

I am a solicitor handling personal injury claims . Experience and skill are necessary , but for most claims the work is essentially process driven. I charge a fixed fee of £400 a claim . Proportionate to the value of the claim; I do not have to wrestle with my conscience ; and my clients come back !

John Moseley, Monmouth, UK

Jim Beresford took advantage of a government funded scheme, and grew his business within the framework of UK law. If any investigation is to be done it should be into the DTI, not Beresfords. In most other countries Jim Beresford would be classed as an entrepreneur.

Graham, Bradford, England

The ex-MP Tony Blair's contituency was Sedgefield of whose population has a high proportion of ex-miners and their Labour-voting wives. Anyone need anything else to explain how this all works?

clive, enfield,

When you consider the nature of the claims being made what kind of solicitor can take a fee that is nearly 100% of the final sum? It seems that they had no conscience & used the rules to enhance their own life style. What a wonderful gesture it would have been if they had only paid themselves 30%!!

Tony Campbell, Northampton, UK

Self Regulation must end. Look around any town in the UK these leaches are everywhere, some of the buildings display the wealth that is made by these unscrupulous people. And yes the judiciary are complicit.

NB, Some politicians are Lawyers !

Wills, Soton, UK

This is appalling - the miners deserve 100000 times more than the solicitors. The solicitors should only get a small fee for handling their case, as the evidence is mainly medical. A disgraceful state of affairs allowed by this appalling Labour government.

Robert Pitt, Scarborough, UK

Why haven't these solicitors yet appeared before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal? The Law Society is dragging its heels as many solicitors drag out cases.

Rodney Barker, Gainsborough, England UK

This is quite inexcusable,how on earth could it happen?Some body must know.

EDWARD SYNGE, Tisbury, UK

And will anyone's head roll at the DTI for this latest fiasco? Of course not. The core problem is that civil servants can make the most appalling decisions but are subsequently never held accountable for them. Maybe the odd dismissal without pension rights might focus their minds?...

Simon, London, UK

The legal scum are just as corrupt and dishonest in Australia as they obviously are in the UK & the US. We need Radical change, BOOT OUT! so called "judges" who are going along with these rorts and letting the scum get away with theft (the money comes out of the pockets of the average tax payer).

Michael William Lockhart, Toowoomba, Australia

Disgusting!

martin, doncaster,

According to my calculations Mr. Beresford would have to spend less than 20 minutes on each of the claims he processed to earn the amount he was paid between 2004 and 2006. Shame on any Government that allows such theft of taxpayers money. Shame on Mr. Beresford and his firm!

Patricia Thornton, Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria

My mother received compensation for the death of my father from emphysema and, without the solicitor contacting her to tell her she was entitled, she would never have known and therefore wouldn't have received anything. These solicitors are also spreading joy as well as making money for themselves.

Johnny, London, UK

Has the time come for the working class to refuse to pay any further taxes until the sleaze in government and every other law unto themselves get rich quick merchant have their hands firmly removed from our pockets. As a tax payer I believe I am the victim of financial rape where are the Police?

Cromwell, Leeds, England

It's of no comfort knowing that your solicitors are just as avaricious as our attorneys here in the colonies. Clearly an illness that survived the passage across the Atlantic.

Mike, Sacramento, United States

It appears the fill your boots culture extends beyond the Palace of Westminster.

Mike O Connor, plymouth, uk