I was admitted to the roll on 1 September 2008. To be able to work in criminal law, I had to complete police station accreditation, which involved a portfolio of 27,000 words and travelling some 200 miles to take the critical incidents exam. If I want to become a duty solicitor, I have to represent 25 clients and complete 25 A4-page essays, and then take a further exam at a total cost of around £1,200 plus VAT.

Our criminal partner and I were recently instructed on an appeal to the Crown Court. In total, we spent more than 20 hours on this matter and under the fixed-fee scheme we only received £127.66. This means that our hourly rate worked out at £6.38, barely above the current minimum wage.

I have spent four years at university and two years training. I have incurred debts of £15,000 in completing my undergraduate degree and a further £10,000 in completing the legal practice course. So I have undertaken six years of work to earn the minimum wage. I would like to remind Jack Straw that no newly qualified solicitor in their right mind would want to do crime. Why would I want to spend my evenings and weekends earning such a wage when I could be doing private work at £150 an hour? Moreover, I have to spend hours completing further exams and portfolios, which I would not need to do were I undertaking conveyancing or probate.

Most experienced criminal solicitors who were admitted to the roll long before accreditation was introduced will have retired within the next 10 to 15 years. You will end up with one provider in the area covering all criminal clients, which will have to produce such a high turnover of fixed fees that the whole concept of client care will disappear.

Richard Parkhouse , Crosse Wyatt Verney & Ayre, South Molton, Devon