I was interested to read your article 'Say it with flowers' (see [2005] Gazette, 27 January, 22).


I suggest that it would be a travesty of justice if personal injury claims of less than £5,000 were not simply dealt with by the courts on commercial grounds. The solution is simple.


For some two years now, Devon & Exeter Law Society has been running a small claims mediation scheme, servicing courts in Exeter, Barnstaple and Torbay. The overall settlement rate of cases going through our scheme is about 60%. The scheme is manned entirely by qualified lawyers who will be able to mediate in such cases.


If such a scheme were extended to other courts, similarly qualified mediators would have no difficulty in resolving personal injury claims, thus continuing to give access to justice to the very poor and disadvantaged.