Redistribute wealth

As a legal aid practitioner of 30 years' standing, I long ago accepted that my commercial colleagues could charge five times my hourly rate and earn ten times more than I would.To discover that they are earning 61 million from public funds, despite the government employing 1,250 in-house lawyers, is a bit rich (see [2001] Gazette, 26 April, 1).

The demand by the National Audit Office for a 10% cut suggests that there is significant over- advising or over-charging, probably both.

I suggest that the anticipated savings of 6 million should not vanish into Treasury coffers but be paid to the Legal Services Commission to assist fund- starved public projects, and hard-pressed genuine public sector legal advisers.Michael Burdett, HCL Hanne & Co, London SW11