$2.5m paid to suspended public lawyer

A criminal defence barrister suspended from working as a legal aid lawyer has been paid more than $2.5 million from the public purse in the past five years.

Robyn Fendall has been suspended by the Legal Services Agency for allegedly overbilling as a supervising duty lawyer at the Waitakere District Court in West Auckland.

Publicly listed figures show Ms Fendall has received more than $1.6 million of legal aid as a duty solicitor in the past five financial years, including $572,000 in the 2006-2007 financial year.

The Weekend Herald can also reveal Ms Fendall was paid a further $906,000 by the Ministry of Justice in the same period, according to figures released under the Official Information Act.

The money was paid by the ministry for Ms Fendall's work as a Youth Advocate, a court-appointed role representing defendants under the age of 16, which is separate from her position as a duty solicitor.

A Legal Services Agency spokeswoman declined to comment on the reason for the suspension, as Ms Fendall had appealed against the decision.

Ms Fendall was unavailable to comment yesterday. Her lawyer, Maria Dew, was unable to comment until the review of the agency's suspension was finished, but she expected a resolution in the next few weeks.

"She's certainly not been suspended by the Ministry [of Justice]. The Legal Services Agency is investigating its own relationship with Robyn," said Ms Dew.

The suspension comes after debate about the growing legal aid bill and calls for reform in the way the justice system is funded.

Dame Margaret Bazley is reviewing legal aid for Justice Minister Simon Power, after the taxpayer-funded bill rose from $84 million five years ago to an estimated $144 million the next year.

Dame Margaret said in a discussion document that barriers to becoming a legal aid lawyer were low, there was no real monitoring of performance "to ensure the taxpayer is getting value for money".

THE PAYMENTS

Legal Aid

2004-05: $243,939
2005-06: $270,732
2006-07: $572,301
2007-08: $282,166
2008-09: $233,882

Total: $1,603,020

Youth Advocate

2004-05: $255,385
2005-06: $288,794
2006-07: $130,852
2007-08: $144,569
2008-09: $86,929

Total: $906,529

Combined total $2,509,549