In the first of this year’s BBC Reith lectures, Professor Michael Sandel spoke of ‘a new citizenship’; a politics oriented less to the pursuit of individual self interest and more to the pursuit of the common good. He criticised the policies of the last 30 years as ‘a heady, reckless time of market mania and deregulation’ and warned of the encroachment of market principles upon all walks of life.

Notable examples of market principles invading the legal profession include the lifting of the bans on advertising and referral fees. In the personal injury field at least, these have (to use as an analogy Professor Sandel’s reference to the debate in the US concerning the introduction of a market in refugees to solve the immigration crisis) encouraged participants – the buyers, sellers and also those whose claim is being haggled over – to think of a claim as a revenue source rather than a tortious wrong that requires a legal remedy.

These steps have contributed to the undermining of the status of lawyers in general, encouraged the rise in fraudulent claims, and may in part explain the false impression of a claims culture. Markets, as Professor Sandel so eloquently argues, are not inert – they taint the goods they regulate and leave their mark.

It is in this context that discussions regarding reform of legal services must be held. By ignoring these lessons, policy makers of the past have failed us. I hope those of the future do not make the same mistakes.

Richard Edwards, E Rex Makin & Co, Liverpool