I read with dismay the letter by David Kirwan regarding the appointment of a legal executive to the post of deputy district judge.

I know from firsthand experience the challenging nature of the tests, role-play and interviews set by the Judicial Appointments Commission, and have no doubt that the legal executive concerned must have demonstrated at a high level the necessary skills required.

Furthermore, the Judicial Studies Board will train all newly appointed deputy district judges and I cannot see any difference as to why an experienced legal executive will be somehow inferior to a probate solicitor who has also passed the tests to the same high standard.

As someone who regularly appears in the courts, I have never enquired from which branch of the profession the judge has emanated, as it is irrelevant. I cannot imagine a layperson asking the same question.

To my mind, Mr Kirwan’s comments are unhelpful and outdated. Presumably Mr Kirwan supported the previous system where judges were appointed by the ‘old boys’ network, thereby excluding many female and ethnic minority solicitors and barristers from the process?

Claire Sharp , solicitor and higher courts advocate (Civil), Metcalfes, Bristol