A little-known lawyer of Indian origin has emerged as the highest paid legal aid barrister in Britain, earning £1,116,000 in 2005-06. Balbir Singh, 48, head of Equity Chambers, Birmingham, tops the list of 10 highest paid legal aid barristers released by Britain's Ministry of Justice Monday. Singh, a criminal legal aid barrister, is the only person in the list who has not been promoted to the rank of Queen's Counsel (QC).

Singh was once investigated for allegedly telling a client how to concoct an alibi, according to a report in The Telegraph. A Bar Council disciplinary tribunal later found that the evidence provided against Singh was inconsistent, unreliable and not credible. After 60 witnesses, including QCs, deposed for Singh, he was cleared of the charges. According to The Telegraph, he later said that the support he received then led to his workload increasing.

Born in the industrial city of Walsall in the West Midlands, Singh went to Walsall grammar school and Walsall College and then took a law degree from Coventry Polytechnic. A former magistrates' clerk, he was called to the bar when he was 26 and his areas of practice today cover crime, corporate fraud, licensing, family, civil liberties, human rights, civil trials, judicial review and hearings in the appeal courts.

Meanwhile, a report in The Guardian said that the latest figures would embarrass Britain's Justice Minister Lord Falconer, who has repeatedly pledged an end to the £1-million-a-year legal aid barristers. "Around 1% of cases in the crown court consume more than 40% of the crown court legal aid budget. The problem has been exacerbated by ever lengthier trials with multiple defendants," the report said.

Labour MP Andrew Dismore has also condemned as an "absolute disgrace" the huge fees paid to individual lawyers from taxpayers' money. "This is an absolute disgrace. Law centres and advice services are being squeezed at the bottom end to pay for multi-million-pound, bewigged fat cats at the other," The Daily Mail quoted him as saying. According to The Telegraph, however, the Legal Services Commission, which runs legal aid, has said that it worked hard to ensure value for money.

"The highest paid firms worked on more than 130,000 cases in a year, helping thousands of people to protect their rights, often at crisis points in their lives," The Telegraph report quoted Carolyn Regan, the Commission's chief executive, as saying.

"These highly skilled and dedicated firms, agencies and individuals deliver a range of civil and criminal legal services ranging from providing housing advice to avoiding homelessness to ensuring that people have the basic right to a legal defence when facing criminal charges."

Singh was not available for comment as he was involved in a trial at Leeds.

TOP EARNERS

1. Balbir Singh (£1,116,000)
2. Nigel Lithman QC (£978,000)
3. John C. Rees QC (£947,000)
4. Oliver Blunt QC (£913,000)
5. Andrew Trollope QC (£889,000)
6. William Clegg QC (£849,000)
7. James Sturman QC (£765,000)
8. Howard Godfrey QC (£733,000)
9. Abbas Lakha QC (£706,000)
10. Stephen Riordan QC (£699,000)

These are all gross amounts and self-employed barristers must pay VAT, income tax and National Insurance, chambers fees, expenses and pension contributions.