Lawyers representing the Post Office during the Horizon scandal earned nearly as much as the compensation paid to wronged sub-postmasters, figures reveal

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Lawyers representing the Post Office during the Horizon scandal have earned almost as much as the compensation paid to wronged sub-postmasters.

Fifteen law firms and two barristers' chambers were paid almost £257 million for advising the state-owned firm over ten years, while victims have received about £261 million so far.

The wrongful prosecution of more than 900 people was the biggest miscarriage of justice in British legal history.

The lawyer fees paid by the Post Office were revealed yesterday in a reply to a Freedom of Information request by The Lawyer website and related to payments for work between September 2014 and March this year.

It included work on the High Court group litigation brought against the Post Office by sub-postmasters, the establishment of compensation schemes and the Horizon IT independent inquiry, which started in 2022.

One firm, Herbert Smith Freehills, received more than £163.5 million. It was involved in the High Court action brought against the Post Office by former postmaster Alan Bates.

It also advised the Post Office on its compensation scheme and in the early stages of the inquiry, although it was replaced last June by two firms, Burges Salmon and Fieldfisher.

HSF said its work has been 'complex and wide-ranging, involving hundreds of our staff. We have immense sympathy for the postmasters.'

Another firm involved in the group litigation, Womble Bond Dickinson, received about £24.7 million.

It told The Lawyer it had 'great sympathy for all those affected' and said its billing included 'third-party costs', such as barristers' fees paid via disbursements, rather than directly by the Post Office.

A third firm, Peters & Peters, received £43.3 million from the Post Office for advice on the sub-postmasters' appeals against their convictions and on the inquiry. It is thought the figure included money paid to barristers by the firm.

The Post Office said: 'We are truly sorry for the suffering caused by Post Office's past actions and the amount of money spent with legal firms reflects the huge scale of the scandal.'