Slaughter and May received the lion’s share of nearly £3 million in legal fees from the Department for Transport (DfT) in August this year, as the Magic Circle firm continues to reel in lucrative government contracts.

Spending data for August 2019 shows that the DfT paid Slaughters and ‘third parties’ £2.8 million for providing ‘maritime’ legal consultancy services. According to a person with knowledge of the data, the payment covers contracts won between November 2018 and June of this year.