£3m-a-year earnings of QCs

Eight QCs are today revealed as members of the legal world's most exclusive set - the £2millionayear club.

The barristers all command fees of £2-3 million a year, making them the highest earning "silks" in the country.

Their earnings make their club more exclusive than the £1million-a-year set, which a growing number of QCs are joining.

The best-paid is Lord Grabiner, who will earn more than £3million. One senior City solicitor-told The Lawyer magazine: "I now tell my clients Grabiner costs £3,000 an hour. That's usually what it works out at."

Next in line is Gordon Pollock, who has a £3million fee for representing the liquidator of collapsed bank BCCI. Three other QCs make at least £2million - Elizabeth Gloster, insolvency law specialist Michael Crystal, and specialist tax barrister David Goldberg. The Lawyer's survey also found that Lord Grabiner secured £60,000 for a day's trial.

Another top earner was Jonathan Sumption QC, who represented the Government at the

Hutton Inquiry. He charges at least £1,000 an hour, but he is far outstripped by Lord Grabiner, who collected a three- fold increase on the previous year.

His rise has come because Mr Pollock is booked up for more than a year, meaning he has cornered the market in the City expertise sought by bankers and other corporate litigators.