The public need to be convinced that solicitors often offer a cheaper service than other providers.

Over the last couple of years, I have become increasingly concerned about the level of fees charged by some new entrants into the legal market.

A fortnight ago I took will instructions from a middle-aged couple (co-habitees) which could by no means be considered complicated. A will writer whom they had consulted previously had warned them of all sorts of complications, most of which appeared as likely as a surge in house prices before the end of the year. His quoted fee was in excess of £1,100.

Equally worrying is a quotation handed to me by the executors appointed under the terms of a will which I prepared just two years ago. An estate comprising a £300,000 house, together with £800 in the bank, does not warrant a quotation of £7,899.81, as provided to the executors by Co-operative Legal Services. This quotation did not include the conveyancing fee in connection with selling the house.

Legal advice from trained professionals is never going to be cheap, but some quotes I see now for straightforward, routine work are outrageous. As a profession, we need to work a little harder in educating the public that solicitors very often offer a much cheaper and better service. Fortunately, in the cases I quoted, the clients became suspicious and obtained advice and significantly lower quotes from their local solicitor. I just wonder how many will not do so.