The bar broke through another milestone this year with total income for the top 30 civil and common law sets breaking through the £600m barrier for the first time. Together the big-hitters of the bar brought in £603.6m, an 8.5 per cent increase from 2005 and an average of just more than £20m per chambers. Average revenue per barrister (RPB) also rose, up by 8 per cent to £358,000 against a 5 per cent rise in total number of tenants.

But once again the turnover increases came in a market where the number of cases in the High Court and Court of Appeal continued to drop and where arbitration and mediation were increasingly important. The top 30 appeared in nearly 100 fewer appeals during the last financial year than in 2004-05, although the number of House of Lords cases remained generally static thanks to a mass of public and administrative law and human rights issues.

Matrix Chambers knocked Blackstone Chambers off the top spot for Lords appearances last year, thanks to several major human rights cases and other disputes, including R v Secretary of State for the Home Department ex parte Limbuela, which dealt with the rights of asylum seekers to state benefits. Matrix barristers made 35 appearances in the Lords, compared with 13 for Blackstone. Both sets also visited the Court of Appeal more than 70 times during the past year. However, 39 Essex Street continues to dominate in the appeal court, retaining first place with 109 appearances, a drop from 121 in 2005.

European law, particularly in the competition and tax arenas, is a busy area for many sets. Brick Court Chambers took the laurels with the most European Court of Justice (ECJ) appearances in the top 30, visiting Strasbourg 10 times during the course of the year. 20 Essex Street, with five cases, was second. However, neither set can match Monckton Chambers’ 22 appearances, despite the chambers being too small to make the top 30.

Brick Court has retained its position as the UK’s highest-earning set, with the other three members of the so-called ‘magic circle’ of commercial sets taking their usual places in its wake. Brick Court, Essex Court Chambers, One Essex Court and Fountain Court Chambers all enjoyed solid years, and all had tenants appearing in the biggest cases of the year.

Essex Court saw the highest RPB increase of the top four after its total number of tenants dropped to 65 from 68 in 2005. Brick Court, Essex Court and One Essex Court each posted an average RPB of more than £500,000, while Fountain Court’s RPB is still high at £466,000.

Wilberforce Chambers shot to the top of the RPB chart this year after a particularly buoyant 12 months. Earnings at the chancery set were up by 15 per cent, bringing RPB to £554,000. Wilberforce is the first chambers to break the £550,000 RPB barrier, but insurance specialist 7 King’s Bench Walk is hot on its heels, posting an RPB figure of exactly £550,000.

The greatest increase in total earnings came from Birmingham set St Philips Chambers, where income was up by 25 per cent to £25m. This pushed St Philips into the top 10 for the first time, and with yet more new tenants on the way from collapsed Three Fountain Court, income is set to go up further next year.

Midlands rival No 5 Chambers is likely to benefit in the same way after taking on 17 tenants from Three Fountain Court. It also had a good 2005, with earnings up by 21 per cent to £26.2m.

However, both sets still have RPBs below £200,000, as does fellow regional set Exchange Chambers. All three regionals are slowly moving towards the £200,000 RPB mark, but are slowed by the mix of civil and criminal work carried out and the tough legal aid environment.

Other sets to have experienced large rises in income this year include 11 King’s Bench Walk (up by 21 per cent to £13.6m), XXIV Old Buildings (up by 17 per cent to £12.8m) and Four New Square (up by 16 per cent to £18.5m). XXIV Old Buildings makes its debut in the top 10 sets for RPB with an average of £440,000, the figure belying its size as the smallest chambers in terms of its number of tenants.

The common law sets found the year tougher. While chambers such as Outer Temple Chambers, 1 Crown Office Row and Kings Chambers all managed to increase total earnings, RPB dropped at all three. North West set Kings saw the greatest decrease, with RPB down by 4 per cent to £211,000.

For the first time, this year the Bar Top 30 includes information on the number of female tenants at each of the top sets. No 5, the largest set in terms of tenants, has the most female barristers in absolute numbers. However, with female-male ratios of 1:1.8, Matrix and Exchange have the greatest proportion of female tenants.

Only 28 of the 1,777 tenants in the top 30 sets are female silks, less than 6 per cent of the total number of QCs. This figure is set to rise considerably next year after the appointment of a record number of female silks in the first round of the new QC process, although some sets, including Wilberforce, 3 Verulam Buildings and 7 King’s Bench Walk, will still have no female QCs.

The revamped appointments system led to the creation of a record 175 silks, including the 33 female awards. The change this will make to the bar as a whole should not be underestimated. Some sets, such as Essex Court, are approaching an unprecedented 1:1 silk-junior ratio. Next year’s results will be affected heavily by the market’s ability to absorb such a large number of new QCs and the opportunities the appointments will give to the next generation of senior juniors.