Widely held suspicions that white male barristers earn far more than their female and ethnic-minority colleagues have been confirmed by unpublished research commissioned by the Bar Council.

The report, seen by the Gazette, was prepared by the Legal Services research team in May 2008 but remains officially under wraps. It shows that the average annual gross billed income of self-employed practitioners is in the region of £178,000 – but that on average men earn almost £100,000 more than women. White respondents earn over £50,000 more than those from black and minority ethnic (BME) groups, even when the figures are adjusted to take into account post-qualification experience.

The survey of more than 3,600 barristers also reveals that women and BME barristers depend more than white male barristers on public funding.

Similar disparities exist across the legal profession. Statistics from the Law Society, showing median earnings, put last year’s annual salary for male solicitors at around 50% higher than for women – £60,000 compared with £41,000. The median was £50,000 for white solicitors and £40,000 for BME groups – a 25% difference. And those working with legally aided clients earned 29% less than those working for other types of client, with a median salary of £39,000 compared with £56,000.

A Bar Council spokesman said that the council is ‘always concerned’ where there is evidence of an earning differential. ‘We do respond to this type of evidence, and this will be shown by the new work we are ­publishing next week that shows women and BME practitioners are effectively punished by their commitment to legal aid work, rather than if they did comparative privately funded work,’ he said.

Leading BME legal figures challenged this explanation. Sailesh Mehta, barrister and ­former chairman of the Society of Asian Lawyers, said most ­barristers would prefer to do a range of work. Peter Herbert, chairman of the Society of Black Lawyers, said: ‘We don’t have a pre-disposition to doing legal aid work – we’re constrained from doing work in the more lucrative areas. Racism still has a significant impact on our access to work.’