A LIST of the lawyers earning the most from the public purse through legal aid has been released.
Murdered north Belfast solicitor Pat Finucane's former firm Madden & Fincucane has overtaken KRW, the firm of leading human rights lawyer Kevin Winters, for first time since figures were published seven years ago.
Madden and Finucane received payments totalling £2.2 million in the financial year 2014/15 - just £8,462 more than its rival which has topped the so-called legal rich list every previous year.
While the work for which the firms received the money relates to cases from previous years, recently Madden and Finucane have been in the news for representing Thomas Anthony Carlin, the serving police officer jailed for trying to arrest one of Northern Ireland's most senior judges, in a series of appeal attempts.
It also continues to representing some of the families of Bloody Sunday victims and those wounded in the shootings.
Last year, KRW, Northern Ireland's largest law firm, was one of dozens which withdrawn its services during the protracted legal aid dispute.
Finucane & Toner, the firm of Pat Finucane's lawyer son John, is number 15 on the list, with legal aid earnings of 721,346.26.
Meanwhile, one of the north's newest high court judges, Dame Siobhan Keegan, was the second highest earning barrister.
Last year, she and Dame Denise McBride were appointed the first ever female judges of the High Court, but has now given up her private practice which was worth £493,480.03 in legal aid in 2014/15.
Barrister Patrick Lyttle topped the list for the third year in a row, with earnings of £1,4m.
His high profile cases in recent years have included the UVF supergrass and Robert McCartney murder trials.
In total, £34.8m was paid out to barristers, with the top 100 sharing £21.4m and £70.5m to solicitors - with the top 100 firms collecting £49.3m.
Gerry McAlinden, chairman of the Bar Council, which represents barristers said legal aid is "a demand led and vital service relied upon by many throughout Northern Ireland who require expert representation and advice during difficult times in their lives".
"Our aim has been to ensure that we are able to demonstrate value for money for the public purse.
"... These published payments represent the most serious of legal cases within our system in civil, family and criminal law, often reflecting many years of work due to the delay in processing payments in long running and complex cases.
"The Bar Council has been working proactively with the Department of Justice and the Legal Services Agency for the last three years to improve the system of recording and reporting on legal aid spending."
President of the solicitors' body, the Law Society, John Guerin, said it "welcomes the publication of all information regarding expenditure from public funds".
"What is clearly evident is the demand for access to justice supported by legal aid in Northern Ireland," he said.
"It is important to recognise that there are almost 500 solicitor firms committed to providing legal aid services to those most vulnerable and disadvantaged members of the public at a time when their lives require support, advice and representation.
"They include the victims of domestic violence, children who may be taken into care, those facing criminal charges and those with mental health issues."
Ranking Assessed Profit Assessed Profit Assessed Disbursement Total Payments
Costs (£) Costs Vat (£) Costs (£) (£)
1 Madden & Finucane 1,620,175.78 324,315.98 258,704.90 2,203,196.66
2 KRW Law LLP (+ Kevin Winters) 1,573,588.13 313,671.66 307,474.37 2,194,734.16
3 McConnell, Kelly & Co 1,245,421.41 249,014.46 138,216.70 1,632,652.57
4 McKenna Sweeney McKeown Sols 996,326.77 199,073.81 164,004.71 1,359,405.29
5 Trevor Smyth & Co 977,650.17 195,535.05 111,104.36 1,284,289.58
6 Donnelly & Wall 828,964.76 165,748.74 127,581.29 1,122,294.79
7 Quigley Grant & Kyle Solicitors 753,170.45 150,634.19 74,256.68 978,061.32
8 McCann & McCann 704,010.57 140,802.06 77,674.34 922,486.97
9 Bernard Campbell & Co Solicitors 614,073.28 122,814.69 175,548.33 912,436.30
10 MacDermott, McGurk & Partners 669,407.09 133,881.63 59,255.01 862,543.73
11 Harte, Coyle, Collins Solicitors 587,464.56 117,643.37 151,874.28 856,982.21
12 Joe Mulholland & Co Solicitors 658,276.92 131,655.39 65,434.13 855,366.44
13 Patrick Fahy 584,444.58 116,889.20 108,539.91 809,873.69
14 Breen, Rankin, Lenzi 527,331.37 105,470.57 98,357.56 731,159.50
15 Finucane and Toner 564,923.04 112,984.79 43,438.43 721,346.26
16 Higgins, Hollywood, Deazley 493,078.87 98,632.64 116,559.60 708,271.11
17 Seamus Delaney Solicitors 538,211.73 107,642.38 43,125.21 688,979.32
18 Worthington's Solicitors 451,546.34 90,317.66 123,777.44 665,641.44
19 Morgan & Murphy Solicitors 498,617.26 99,723.71 59,697.79 658,038.76
20 Larkin O'Connor Cassidy Solicitors 489,711.52 97,942.35 54,292.63 641,946.50
Payments to Top 100 Counsel 2014/15
Ranking Assessed Profit Assessed Profit Gross Total
Costs Costs Vat Payments
1 Mr P Lyttle QC 1,173,498.96 233,375.41 1,406,874.37
2 Mrs S Keegan QC 411,254.53 82,225.50 493,480.03
3 Mr D P Fee QC 394,272.48 78,814.71 473,087.19
4 Miss E M McDermott 386,454.35 77,290.86 463,745.21
5 Ms N McGrenera QC 371,461.79 74,116.27 445,578.06
6 Ms M Higgins QC 348,723.50 69,687.04 418,410.54
7 Mr F P O'Donoghue QC 303,358.84 60,671.77 364,030.61
8 Mr G Duffy QC 277,157.37 55,431.47 332,588.84
9 Miss M Walsh QC 275,499.40 55,285.39 330,784.79
10 Mr M O'Rourke QC 271,722.06 54,330.83 326,052.89
11 Mr G McGuigan QC 268,934.81 53,699.00 322,633.81
12 Mr S Devine 256,689.53 51,337.91 308,027.44
13 Mr W G Berry QC 251,264.49 54,125.54 305,390.03
14 Ms L McMahon 238,252.74 47,593.91 285,846.65
15 Mr R McConkey 237,356.61 47,471.32 284,827.93
16 Mr L F Curran 228,646.63 45,729.32 274,375.95
17 Mr N Moore 224,688.60 44,937.80 269,626.40
18 Mr J Kearney QC 222,395.81 44,479.16 266,874.97
19 Ms D McBride QC 221,814.91 44,347.56 266,162.47
20 Mr D Sharpe 215,021.18 42,946.56 257,967.74
