I read the letter from Brian Woodhams on the issue of court dress for solicitor-advocates (see [2006] Gazette, 23 March, 15) and I despair at the apparent inability of lawyers to move into the 21st century.


Here we are in 2006, still arguing about wigs, and even apparently not being too sure about whether our gowns can be made of the same material as that of a barrister. I do not mean any criticism of Mr Woodhams, who I trust will never be challenged over the issue, but the Department for Constitutional affairs for not having sorted this nonsense out many years ago. A court will either accept a lawyer as a competent advocate or not; there can be no justification for different dress, depending on the method by which such advocate came to achieve that acceptability.


I still recall appearing in 1995 at the Crown Court (traditional rights of solicitors to appear at Crown Court in Cornwall long pre-dating the not-so-recent reforms as to rights of audience) with a barrister on the other side - he referred to disagreeing with the arguments of 'my learned friend... er, I mean my friend'. I am not sure that we have moved on very far in recent years.


John Ball, Camborne, Cornwall