It would be a shame if readers obtained a misleading impression as a result of the headline in your recent news item about our views on the Legal Services Commission’s (LSC) fixed fees (see [2008] Gazette, 2 October, 1).

The LSC has steadfastly refused to incentivise and reward firms such as ours which have peer review scores of ‘excellent’ in virtually all areas and several industry awards. This has led us to diversify very successfully into areas of work which are not legally aided and also to choose carefully which legal aid cases we are prepared to take on and at what level of fee-earner seniority.

This approach, which is one increasingly shared by other firms, is improving our profitability. But it has worrying implications for real access to justice for legal aid clients and is a pressing issue for the LSC and Ministry of Justice to address. They have not yet even begun to appreciate the seriousness of the situation.

Stephen Hewitt, Managing partner, Fisher Meredith, London.