Broken dreams

Not every firm which replied to our legal aid survey this month cited low pay, red tape and onerous standards as reasons for giving up the work.

One respondent, who shall of course remain nameless, said her firm had given up civil legal aid work.

And the admirably frank reason? 'We are really bad at it.' A similar blast of honesty came from a Reading firm over recruitment problems.

'Law schools do not seem to produce idealists any more,' our respondent fumed.

'All they want is to make millions.

Obtaining solicitors who want to help the community and do publicly funded work is very difficult - truly they are Thatcher's legacy.'