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| Hillsborough inquests: Families' legal fees were £63.6m | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Legal costs for the families at the inquests into the deaths of the 96 Hillsborough victims totalled £63.6m. | Legal costs for the families at the inquests into the deaths of the 96 Hillsborough victims totalled £63.6m. |
| They were paid by the Home Office, which also spent nearly £20m on lawyers for the former chief constable of South Yorkshire Police and eight ex-officers. | They were paid by the Home Office, which also spent nearly £20m on lawyers for the former chief constable of South Yorkshire Police and eight ex-officers. |
| The inquests concluded in April that the fans were unlawfully killed in the 1989 disaster. | The inquests concluded in April that the fans were unlawfully killed in the 1989 disaster. |
| Running between 31 March 2014 and 26 April 2016, they were the longest in British legal history. | |
| The £83.6m total includes costs of solicitors, experts, counsel, and disbursements between 31 December 2012 and 30 June 2016. | |
| Lawyers for the families received the same rates as police counsel, the BBC understands. | |
| The inquests into the deaths of 96 fans after a crush during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest followed a 27-year campaign by victims' families. | |
| In April, it was reported South Yorkshire Police's legal bill for the inquests was £25.1m, with £20m of this paid by the Home Office. | |
| Figures released by the police and crime commissioner showed the force had paid about £4.3m of the total legal bill. | |
| Of the £63.6m cost for representing the victims' families, £34.3m went to the firm Birnberg Peirce while Broudie Jackson Canter received £19.8m. | |
| The rest was spent on six other legal firms representing the families. |