Once again the profession is tying itself in knots over pro bono work, in effect fiddling while Rome burns (‘Should pro bono be compulsory?’).

Perhaps the time to revisit compulsory pro bono work is when Sainsbury’s is obliged to hand out free trolley loads of produce and Kwik Fit is obliged to give free tyres. Law firms are businesses just like any other, and like other businesses should be able to celebrate the making of a profit, leaving it to their owners to decide the extent to which they choose to support a charity with their share of that profit.

Can we please stop pretending that law firms are social enterprises. They are not.

Richard Marshall, managing director, Lupton Fawcett Lee & Priestley, Leeds