I read with interest Christopher Digby-Bell’s comments that solicitors should be able to factor in the likely additional costs to be incurred by incompetent solicitors on the other side when dealing with any transaction.

Can Mr Digby-Bell reliably estimate how competent or otherwise his fellow in-house counsel are? It would be incredible if he could.

Moreover, I do not know why there is this constant habit of comparing the profession to wholly unsuitable comparators (in this case, heart surgeons). Notwithstanding the error of doing so, the simple point to make is that any heart operation that takes longer will inevitably cost more.

Lloyd Junor, Associate, Thomas Eggar, Worthing