The publication of the first register of MPs’ interests of the new parliament has been dominated by how little time Nigel Farage appears to have left to serve his Clacton constituents, but there are plenty of interesting titbits from the legal sector.

Labour MP David Lammy, now the foreign secretary, was paid £5,100 each time to give speeches for Black History Month at City firms Proskauer Rose and Freshfields. Both entries record that he spent four hours each time, including preparation.

The only other MP to be asked to speak by a law firm was Labour’s Jess Philips, who appeared at Birmingham practice Tyndallwoods Solicitors. Her £1,000 fee was donated directly to a Birmingham domestic abuse charity.

Relatively few legal businesses contributed directly to MPs’ successful election campaigns (we will never know how many firms donated to losing causes).

Maria Eagle, Labour MP for Liverpool Garston, received £3,000 to support her re-election campaign from local firm Robert James Law Limited.

Thompsons Solicitors donated £2,000 for the election fighting fund of Warinder Juss, who was duly elected to represent Wolverhampton West. This was not unexpected, given that Juss was also a solicitor working for Thompsons.

Meanwhile a host of solicitors declared incomes from their day jobs, though most have left the profession to focus on Westminster.

Consultant solicitor Sarah Russell (Congleton) was paid almost £8,000 by City firm Rebel Law Ltd but has worked no additional hours since her election.

Final four-figure payments were also made to Lucy Rigby (Northampton North) from Hausfeld & Co, to Alex McIntyre (Gloucester) from DAC Beachcroft, and to Alex Barros-Curtis (Cardiff West), who had worked as executive director of legal affairs for the Labour Party. Ben Maguire (North Cornwall) declared £7,721 for working in-house at Intel Corporation (UK) Ltd, while Rachel Taylor (North Warwickshire and Bedworth) received £7,142 a quarter for consultancy services to Midlands firms.

Adnan Hussain (Blackburn) continues to be a director of Lancashire firm Bank View Solicitors, receiving £4,000 a month for an estimated 200 hours.

Obiter’s favourite detail in the register of interests was from solicitor Sarah Bool, the new MP for South Northamptonshire. She received a final salary payment from her firm Forsters LLP and also declared a leaving gift worth £160. We hope it wasn’t just vouchers.

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