It came as a breath of fresh air to read in last week’s leader how as a profession we complain that we are no longer respected, while, on the facing page, a letter from Peter S Hughes confirmed his rugged independence and refusal to enter into referral fee arrangements.

As long as the profession includes persons of similar ilk, it retains respect in areas where they practise. Such respect arises from pursuing what I fear are now considered old-fashioned methods, namely a simple one-to-one approach without advertising or any demonstration of ego.

Sadly, such methods seem to go unnoticed by our professional body, whose direction seems to be governed by a desire to make us aggressive business people operating in an electronic market, governed by a motive to achieve even greater market share.

This is not what we as a profession are really about. We should not forget that the bulk of the profession is made up of provincial offices undertaking personal legal services which earn these offices respect.

This is easily measured by the very high percentage of repeat business that I – and I’m sure Mr Hughes – enjoy. The problem, however, is whether the younger generation pursues the same modus operandi.

Richard A Pitt, Beadle Pitt and Gottschalk, Canterbury