As a mere litigator, I suspect your correspondent Nick Smith might have got it the wrong way round (see [2005] Gazette, 9 June, 17). Perhaps it is not that sellers' solicitors cannot be bothered to read the office copies they send out; it is that they expect the buyers' representatives not to do so. Perhaps when Mr Smith rings to complain, he is brightening their day tremendously by restoring their faith in the professionalism of the enterprise.


Perhaps if there were lots of Mr Smiths we would not be in this situation in the first place. He is right in feeling that the more we reinforce the impression that conveyancing is a matter of paper shuffling and button pressing, the more we play into the hands of those who would prefer to keep solicitors out altogether. Anyone for e-conveyancing?


John Wilson, Wilsons, Leeds