The squeeze on legal aid spending has not yet consigned the million-pound-a-year legal aid barrister to history, Ministry of Justice statistics revealed last week.

Charles Salmon QC of London’s Hare Court topped the annual league table of the highest-paid criminal legal aid barristers. He received £1,058,000 from the public purse in the year ended 31 March 2008.

Howard Godfrey QC of 2 Bedford Row was the second highest earner, receiving £988,000, while 3 Raymond Buildings’ David Whitehouse QC received £959,000. All three represented defendants in a money laundering trial following an investigation by the Serious Organised Crime Agency.

The highest earning civil barristers, all practising in family work, were Simon Hirst from Wilberforce Chambers in Grimsby, receiving £442,000, followed by Michael Keehan QC of St Ives Chambers with £372,000, then Alison Ball QC, joint head of chambers at 1 Garden Court in London, who received £371,000.

National firm Tuckers received £9,302,000 from the criminal defence service pot. The Johnson Partnership was second on the list with £6,192,000. Northern firm Forbes received £4,654,000. The Public Defender Service received £4,593,000.

London firm Duncan Lewis, earned the most from civil work, receiving £6,182,000, followed by Yorkshire firm Switalskis with £4,566,000.

The legal aid budget paid £14,134,000 to the Immigration Advisory Service and £13,092,000 to the Refugee Legal Centre.

The amounts include VAT and may cover a number of cases spread over several years.