In terms of recipients of fees paid by Legal Aid, Kensington Swan has been the top earning Kiwi firm for the past two-and-a-half years, having received NZ$5.6m (A$4.6m) in legal aid fees for various Maori and treaty claims. Treaty work also brought a healthy NZ$3.7m (A$3.02m) for Wellington firm Rainey Collins, while human rights litigation brought boutique firm Cooper Lawyers an impressive NZ$4.4m (A$3.6m) in the same period.

The Legal Aid regime is expected to be reviewed, following complaints that the program is flawed and that Legal Aid rates are too low. Solicitor Sonja Cooper told ALB that the profit firms make from the fees is relatively small. "Some of the trials involved huge expenses, so when we get the Legal Aid fees we need to reimburse costs of the firm and clients, which takes away a big chunk of the money," she said.

Last year Coopers collected NZ$1.5m (A$1.2m) in legal aid fees, Kensington Swan received NZ$2.1m (A$1.7m), and Auckland barrister Charl Hirschfeld of Jamaica Chambers was at the front of the pack with NZ$2.3m (A$1.9m).

Since John Key's National Party introduced plans to reintroduce competition to the state-owned Accident Compensation Corporation, Kensington Swan has received numerous insurance-related enquiries.