Commercial lawyers trailed their criminal counterparts in their domination of the national headlines during the last 12 months, according to new Sweet & Maxwell statistics.

Human rights lawyer Gareth Peirce, a partner at London boutique Birnberg Peirce, came out on top with 196 references in the UK national press from July 2005 to July 2006, after acting for the family of tube shooting victim Jean Charles de Menezes.