London firm Duncan Lewis topped the tables published today by the Ministry of Justice of the firms that earn the most from legal aid.

In the year ending March 2009, Duncan Lewis received £9.9m from the community legal service’s annual £900m budget, almost twice as much as the second-placed firm – northern firm Stephensons which received £5.7m.

Northern firm Switalskis was in third place with £5m.

National firm Tuckers was the highest paid criminal legal aid firm, receiving £9.4m. Midlands firm The Johnson Partnership was in second place earning £6.4m, and London firm EBR Attridge Law followed with £5.4m.

Howard Godfrey QC, deputy head of chambers at London set 2 Bedford Row, was the highest earning criminal barrister, receiving £928,000. Hugh Southey at London’s Tooks Chambers received the most from the community legal aid fund, receiving £442,000.

Justice secretary Jack Straw said: ‘The large majority of legal aid lawyers work long hours and provide a valuable and vital public service. It is entirely proper that these people are paid decent rates. However there are a handful at the top of the profession, and sometimes in the middle ranks, where the picture is very different and there is an expectation they should receive rewards comparable to those in the private sector.

‘There is an interesting comparison to make between the top-earning criminal law firm, which has received just over £9 million in legal aid payments over the year and employs 186 staff, with the highest-earning barrister who made close to £1 million for just a single individual,’ said Straw.