Equity head is richest legal aid barrister

•Balbir Singh, head of Birmingham-based Equity Chambers, has been named the UK's highest-paid legal aid barrister. The annual figures from the Ministry of Justice revealed that Singh, a former magistrates clerk, had raked in more than £1.1m in the 2005-06 year. Last year Singh fell into the fifth spot with £750,000 in earnings. He is the only non-QC in the top 10 list of highest-paid barristers from criminal legal aid work. Between them the top 10 made close to £8.6m in public money for the period.