Highest paid civil barrister before disciplinary panel for fee cheating

Highest paid civil barrister before disciplinary panel for fee cheating

One of Britain’s highest paid civil barristers tried to double his publicly-funded Legal Aid fees by claiming for work that he had not done, a hearing was told today.

In a case that will do little to change the public perception of the exuberant financial rewards enjoyed by the nation’s top lawyers, Jeremy Rosenblatt is said to have attempted to claim payment for meetings he had not attended and research that was irrelevant.

In his defence Mr Rosenblatt, who was listed as the country’s highest-earning civil barrister in 2008 with an income of £508,000, said that some judges were “generous” when it came to overclaiming for work and others even “encouraged” such claims.

It is alleged that Mr Rosenblatt “wrongly claimed money” when he submitted fee forms which, if paid, would have increased his pay from a base rate of £230 to £1,223. But three of his proposed increments were rejected by the judge and he was eventually paid £678.

The five-person disciplinary panel was told that Mr Rosenblatt’s claims were made following an adoption case which was heard in May and October 2006.

Following the case the barrister handed in a Special Issue Payments form to the judge. But, it is claimed, he had ticked five boxes he was not entitled to under the Legal Services Commission guidance.

rest of the article at independed.co.uk