CHEAP AND CHEERFUL


Over the past ten years, the number of solicitors has grown by 52%, while the number of legal aid firms has decreased by around 60%. Between the third quarter of 2004 and the third quarter of 2005, there was a 55% increase in possession actions.



As a housing solicitor, I therefore read with interest the Carter review. It states people should have access to good quality advice that is value for money. The review concludes that the best way to achieve this is to introduce standard fees. The standard fee is to be fixed at the rate of the most efficient.



How is efficiency defined? It should be obvious - you compare average cost per case with quality/outcome of case, thereby identifying a benchmark for the cost per case below which quality will not fall.



But no, the review concludes that the most efficient are the practices that do it the cheapest. Solicitors will therefore be looking for another stream of funding to justify their existence to the firms they work for. I can hear myself ask: 'Do you want chips with that legal advice?'



Hassan Dervish, Derby