I read with interest the letter from Denise Kitchener, chief executive of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers, headed ‘Cutting out the middle man’ (see [2009] Gazette, 20 August, 5). I found myself smiling wryly at the comment of the Ministry of Justice regulator who – presumably with a straight face – said that: ‘Solicitors should be intelligent (purchasers) of claims.’

I am a practice manager with a firm that – thankfully – does not have to buy in its work from claims management companies (CMCs). However, I have recently witnessed supposedly reputable firms scrambling to buy work from companies based outside the locality, that they have never heard of or had contact with before, without doing any kind of due diligence on either the quality of work being bought or the history and make-up of the CMC. Add into the mix the present trend of firms employing a non-legally qualified ‘new business manager’ (whose salary is often substantially topped up by bonuses reflecting the number of new clients he or she introduces) and you have a dangerous conflict situation. Many firms are choosing to ignore this in the chase to increase bottom-line profitability and stay ahead of the chasing pack – who will no doubt be offered the same work should it be refused.

The governing piece of MoJ regulatory guidance – the Conduct of Authorised Persons Rules 2007 – is as toothless as it is bland and unspecific. But any solicitors who ignore obvious warning signs when new CMCs appear at the door bearing gifts do so at their peril.

Mike Williamson, Tranters Freeclaim Solicitors, Manchester