It’s fair to say that, what with the mayhem that is the civil legal aid tender and the recent debacle over late payments (to cite but two examples) the Legal Services Commission cops a fair amount of stick from the Gazette and its readers at times. It does seem reasonable therefore that LSC staff may sometimes wish to put pen to paper and explain themselves on our letters page. But now even this act has incurred the wrath of at least one member of the profession.

Nicholas Diable, partner at Erica Peat & Diable in London, writes: ‘It seems to me that every other edition of the Gazette contains a letter from [a] senior member of staff at the LSC. Can I just express my hope that the senior members of staff are not spending all their working days reading magazines and writing letters to publications. Although if they are it might explain the current mess the LSC is in.’ Staff at the LSC might be forgiven for wondering if they can ever win.