Earn fellow-ships

I am writing in response to the article 'Sharing the spoils' (see [2001] Gazette, 5 July, 22) on proposals for fee sharing between lawyers and non-lawyers.Many lawyers are wary of link-ups with non-lawyers because of the increasingly vocal concerns of the large commercial firms of solicitors that they will be taken over by firms of accountants.

The over emphasis on lawyer/accountant link-ups is, in my opinion, distracting the debate about whether there should be closer links between the professions.

More emphasis should be placed on some of the benefits of working with other professionals.

For example, a firm with a large conveyancing department might wish to share fees with a firm of estate agents.

By focusing less on lawyer/accountant hostilities, I believe that solicitors will be less resistant to removing obstacles to working closely with other professionals, so that lawyers can provide the sort of services that today's clients want.Philip Evans, Hull