The Master of the Rolls agrees with the majority of the profession who voted on the issue of referral fees. The relaxation of the ban was a bad idea and to the public detriment. The response of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is that it is 'probably too late to re-introduce the ban'.

Why is it that I can hear a sound very like Sir Humphrey Appleby explaining why something 'cannot be done'. The OFT was wrong and is incapable of admitting it. Referral fees are destructive for both solicitors and the public alike, unless you consider that the integrity of lawyers in this society is unimportant. Referral fee arrangements remained as hidden when legal as they did when illegal.


The only thing now stopping the reintroduction of the ban is a lack of courage within the governing body of the Law Society to reimpose it. We know that the Law Society is not willing to enforce a ban, but at least reputable solicitors would shy away from acting illegally.


Any attempt that might be made by the OFT to rule the ban anti-competitive might be met by a powerful voice in, and the evidence of, the Master of the Rolls.


The Law Society generally has no qualms about spending our money on the various scrapes it gets into. This is something worth fighting for - the right not to take or give 'bungs'.


Andrew Cohen, Woking