HELPING THE NEEDY ; ;I have read with interest the exchange of letters regarding pro-bono work (see [2000] Gazette, 30 November, 18).

;Will Cummins states that the professions moral obligations stem from the solicitors position in relation to other members of society.I have a young family and I work in a high-street firm.

My partner is an NHS nurse.

Our joint salaries arent enough for us in our town to afford a house to live in so we pay crippling rent.

;I left university some years ago with significant debt having had to pay for the legal practice course.

;I have lost count of the times people I meet have said ooh, you must be loaded,while I have no hope of owning a home or a car.

My position compared to many other members of society is a matter of concern to me, particularly considering the uncertain and expensive road that I went down and that faces any would-be lawyer without a privilegedbackground.I see little to make me glad I became a lawyer.

;I do appreciate that Mr Cummins is referring to the underprivileged and needy members of our society.

However, the illusion that all solicitors are somehow privileged must be broken.Money is not everything but working flat out just to get by does not give people like me the time, energy or inclination to indulge in pro bono work although we conduct many free interviews and offer reduced fee schemes and no gentle pressure from The Law Society will change that reality.

;Dont forget it is thegovernment comprising many well-off ex-lawyers who have made their money from the law that has all but abandoned those in need when it comes to many areas of access to justice.

;Name and address supplied