When I entered this profession 28 years ago, I considered it an honour and a privilege to be a member of a group that required, above all, its members to be professional in the sense that they had a duty to serve the public to the best of their ability, and were not motivated by pecuniary benefit alone. A society that told me that advertising my services was wrong and that the best that I could do was to publish a modest notice, not exceeding two or three inches, in the local newspaper on not more than two separate occasions, in which I was allowed merely to state my existence among the local community.

Apart from contacting building societies to join their panels of solicitors in conveyancing transactions, that was the extent of my ability to market myself as a solicitor. Oh happy days, when a solicitor stood or fell on merit alone.


Now apparently I can buy customers. I do not think that we, as a profession, can call them clients any more - we have lost the privilege to do so.


I refer of course to your story that Shoosmiths has bought work from the AA (see [2005] Gazette, 28 April, 1) . I have no complaint against Shoosmiths - the firm is merely being enterprising under the rules.


My complaint is against the mandarins in charge of this inept society that think this is good for the profession or the public.


Nicholas Huber, Nicholas Huber & Co, Tiverton, Devon