A solicitors’ firm reaped gross earnings of nearly £9 million from defending cases on criminal legal aid in one year, according to new figuers released today.

The “big earners” legal aid list, published by the Ministry of Justice and Legal Services Commission, shows that Tuckers Solicitors earned £8,749,000 in the year ending March 2007.

It was the highest-earning criminal legal aid firm in the list of the top ten, with The Johnson Partnership of Nottingham and Derby coming second at £5,515,000; followed by the Meldrum Young Solicitors, the Hertfordshire and North London firm, at £4,726,000.

Franklin Sinclair, senior partner of Tuckers, said that the high earnings, which were gross before overheads, reflected the huge volume of work that his firm undertook across England and Wales.

“There was no one particularly big case. It’s a reflection of the fact that we are the only legal aid firm with offices in the three big city centres of Manchester, Birmingham and London.”

Mr Sinclair, the first solicitor to challenge DNA evidence in a criminal trial, added: “What is not always recognised is that our overheads and expenses are large and growing, while rates of pay are substantially lower.

“It is possible to make a living from legal aid, although it is increasingly difficult, if you do sufficient volume of work. But it is getting harder all the time.”

The firm takes on some 1000 cases a month, or a total of 12,000 in a year, he added. It has six partners and 200 staff, which would make an average annual income of £40,000-plus a year, he pointed out. “So you can see that we are not making substantial profits.“

The firm was recently in the news when it acted in a civil case for Lofti Raissi, the Algerian pilot, who was the first person accused of participating in the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. The Court of Appeal said he had been “completely exonerated” of the terrorism allegations.

As well as the sums of legal aid that went to the private firms above, the Public Defender Service (PDS), a publicly administered body providing legal advice and representation through salaried solicitors, received £4,666,000 in 2006-07.

The Ministry and Legal Services Commission also released the top ten highest-earning firms from civil legal aid work, paid through the Community Legal Service.

Topping the list was Duncan Lewis solicitors, based across four offices in London, which received £6,352,000 from the civil legal aid budget that year for work such as immigration, employment, housing and debt.

The full list of top earning firms up to March 2007 is:

Tuckers Solicitors £8,749,000

The Johnson Partnership £5,515,000

Meldrum Young Solicitors £4,726,000

Attridge Law £4,467,000

Forbes Solicitors £4,427,000

Irwin Mitchell (incorporating Alexander Harris) £4,070,000

Kaim Todner Solicitors £3,917,000

Martin Murray & Associates £3,878,000

Burton Copeland LLP £3,595,000

Bhatia Best Solicitors £3,501,000

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