Barristers legal aid pay

[singlecoil]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7610089.stm


Discuss

[Swilly]

Every job has a rate, that rate is governed by the members of that 'market' and conditions and circumstance.

End of.

[hornetrider]

I totally agree with them, it's disgusting they are paid that little aftrer studying for 7 years to make the grade.

I wouldn't get out of bad for £91 a day, how on earth are they expected to survive on that!!

















What? Oh.

s!

[10 Pence Short]

Swilly said:

Every job has a rate, that rate is governed by the members of that 'market' and conditions and circumstance.

End of.

It's not really a free market though, is it.

People who use legal aid for criminal cases in Crown Court (everyone's pretty much entitled to Legal Aid for such cases, regardless of circustance) don't shop around for the cheapest barrister.

[Swilly]

hornetrider said:

I totally agree with them, it's disgusting they are paid that little aftrer studying for 7 years to make the grade.

I wouldn't get out of bad for £91 a day, how on earth are they expected to survive on that!!

Its £91 for the QC which is somewhat more than just 7 years study.

Anyhow, why dont you do the work instead of them then, £91 an hour would do you a treat !?

[SirTainly]

I pointed this out at work, and was told, "91 an hour, that's not very good, we earn more than that" (no the guy wasn't joking)...I am now feeling rather depressed that I'm doing the same job as that guy and as a full time employee earning less than a quarter of what he is.

[off_again]

£91 a hour? Is that all.....



The field that I work in actually charges more than that. My personal rates are around £120 an hour.... plus expenses and travel!

[Don]

Swilly said:

Every job has a rate, that rate is governed by the members of that 'market' and conditions and circumstance.

End of.

[Justayellowbadge]

My solicitor charges something like 3 times that.

Christ knows what a decent QC on the open market would bill at but it's going to be nowhere even remotely close to the figure in that piece.

[hornetrider]

Look, we're talking about legal aid barristers here, right? The pikeys deserve the cheap st ones as far as I'm concerned.

[JagLover]

Swilly said:

Every job has a rate, that rate is governed by the members of that 'market' and conditions and circumstance.

End of.

What is the 'market' here however. It is the government that sets these rates. The same government that pays so little for NHS dentistry that many people find it hard to access NHS dentistry.

[HundredthIdiot]

The amounts quoted are low for professional services, and I'd expect a QC to be charging hundreds an hour.

When I was at IBM (a few years ago) associate consultants were billed out at over 100 quid an hour.

However, when Mr Lodder says "a barrister would receive only about half the fee, after deductions such as overheads, expenses and tax." it doesn't really help his case. Everyone pays tax.

These stories are usually a bit light on actual insight though, so it's not easy to form a judgement.

[Swilly]

JagLover said:

Swilly said:

Every job has a rate, that rate is governed by the members of that 'market' and conditions and circumstance.

End of.

What is the 'market' here however. It is the government that sets these rates. The same government that pays so little for NHS dentistry that many people find it hard to access NHS dentistry.

I think the market here, in basic terms would go like:

Gov: Im going to offer £91 an hour to do this job, Ok?
QC: ummm No !

[sparkythecat]

off_again said:

£91 a hour? Is that all.....



The field that I work in actually charges more than that. My personal rates are around £120 an hour.... plus expenses and travel!

This picture of off-again shows that he really is outstanding in his field

[singlecoil]

Is it reasonable to assume that a defendant is less likely to be convicted if he has a QC rather than a barrister who is not a QC?

[rude-boy]

FWIW - As a Partner in a provincial firm of solicitors my time is charged out at £185+VAT an hour.

Mills and Reeve are about £250-275+VAT per hour.

Tonker how much are you charged out at per hour as a rule?

Zod?

PP?

Any others?

£91 an hour. That is less than the emergancy call out for half the plumbers in that area.

[off_again]

sparkythecat said:

off_again said:

£91 a hour? Is that all.....



The field that I work in actually charges more than that. My personal rates are around £120 an hour.... plus expenses and travel!

This picture of off-again shows that he really is outstanding in his field

For £91 a hour, I am quite happy to stand in a field....

Is this contract fixed term or variable? Also, do I get travel expenses?

[rude-boy]

singlecoil said:

Is it reasonable to assume that a defendant is less likely to be convicted if he has a QC rather than a barrister who is not a QC?

Questionable. That said do you want some lass on her second year of doing Legal Aid rep. fighting your corner in a rape case or her head of chambers with 35+ years of them?

[Swillsy]

its like 80% of newly qualified barristers drop out because of the fact that the legal aid pay they get hardly covers their travelling and expenses which they have to pay themselves.

[princeperch]

rude-boy said:

FWIW - As a Partner in a provincial firm of solicitors my time is charged out at £185+VAT an hour.

Mills and Reeve are about £250-275+VAT per hour.

Tonker how much are you charged out at per hour as a rule?

Zod?

PP?

Any others?

£91 an hour. That is less than the emergancy call out for half the plumbers in that area.

£125/hr plus the vodka.

Not that I get to see much/any of that..