Barristers' earnings reach record level with leading QCs averaging £281,000

Barristers' earnings have soared to a record £1.6bn, with top QCs averaging £281,000 a year, according to figures published today.

The 2002 Survey of Barristers' Chambers paints a rosy picture of life at the Bar that defies the economic downturn and confounds ministers' attempts to rein in fees.

QCs' earnings have risen from £268,000 two years ago to £281,000 this year. The average earnings of a barrister of over 10 years' experience have risen by £10,000 to £88,000 in the past year alone – an increase of about six times the rate of retail inflation.

Estimated turnover of the independent Bar has also jumped from £1.3-1.5bn last year to £1.4-1.6bn. Most chambers predict a further rise in the level of receipts. Last year it was reported that at the top end of the Bar commercial QCs earned £2m a year. The Office of Fair Trading has expressed concern that barristers increase fees substantially on becoming QCs. It has suggested that this sort of artificial mark-up works against the public interest.

The Bar chairman, David Bean QC, played down the rise in fees, saying: "The picture of a healthy profession experiencing growth conceals real pressures being faced by chambers at the coalface."

The research, by the management consultants BDO Stoy Hayward, revealed a gap between publicly funded work and private work.

Mr Bean said: "The Bar Council is concerned that the squeeze on publicly funded fees poses a real threat to the public's ability to enjoy access to the right quality of advocate."

He said he was particularly concerned at the debts carried by junior barristers long after they had qualified. These often run into loans of more than £20,000.

Mr Bean said: "Levels of debt built up to achieve qualification act as a real barrier to entry to the profession for prospective barristers from less well-off backgrounds. We will lose some of the brightest and best as a result."

Jeffrey Nedas, chairman of BDO Stoy Hayward's professional practice group, said the biggest issue for chambers, according to data from the survey, was the forecast fall in the number of pupillages to be offered next year when funded pupillage was introduced generally. BDO Stoy Hayward predicts this decline, with rising financial pressures on junior barristers, could lead to a shortfall in qualified practising professionals in five years' time.