MDPs SPARK FEARS ; ;I urge all solicitors to lobby their Law Society council members for a profession-wide referendum on the principle issue of multi-disciplinary partnerships (MDPs). ;It is naive to believe that the public has any real concern over whether the legal partnership they seek to instruct is made up of largely non-qualified partners, with a token solicitor or two, as long as the service and expertise is provided. ;Ask yourself how many legal practices will appear overnight if we allow this concept to proceed unchecked. One of the proposed models is to allow non-qualified persons to join in a profit-sharing partnership with qualified lawyers, provided that the non-qualified partners agree to be regulated by the Law Societys code of conduct. ;I am vehemently opposed to MDPs in principle. While attractive to large City firms, which may wish to merge with equally large accountancy practices, the Law Societys proposed models will see the destruction of the independent legal profession. ;Keith Teare, JST Mackintosh, Liverpool ; ; ; ;