Makes the U.K. lawyers who milked the miners’ claims look like sweethearts.
And could help steal back the ‘most-hated-professionals’ crown from those pesky bankers (in the U.S. at any rate).

Jim Beresford became the UK’s richest lawyer in the 2005-06 financial year, having taken home a total of £16.8m in the 12-month period, mainly from screwing injured miners. In the controversey that ensued, he and his colleague, Douglas Smith, went on to face 11 allegations of misconduct, all but three of which were upheld. The case was a coup for lawyers who like the the money-grabbing image…

In a similar vein (although there are no allegations of misconduct), Americans are fuming as lawyers in the legal battle over Ground Zero worker compensation look set to bag up to half of the billions available to pay 9/11 recovery workers for toxic injuries.

NYP: Defense firms hired by the city to fight some 10,000 claims have already raked in close to $200 million, and about $75 million has been spent on administrative expenses.

Lawyers for the workers — who have yet to be paid — stand to reap 30 percent to 40 percent of all settlements or judgments, based on their retainer agreements with World Trade Center responders.

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At stake is a $1 billion taxpayer fund and as much as $3 billion in liability-insurance coverage…

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The fund spent $275 million between 2004 and Dec. 31, 2009, on defense lawyers and administrative costs, records obtained by The Post show.

At the same time, the fund paid only a total of $320,000 to five workers with minor injuries.

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That works out at about $860 for lawyers and admin for every $1 given to injured workers. Another winning piece of PR for lawyers.

Are none of them worried about that ‘right to keep and bear arms’ section of the U.S. Constitution?