I would once have been astonished to read that we are now allowed to add a mark-up to counsel’s fees (see [2009] Gazette, 17 December, 2). Sadly, it is a sign of the times. This appears to be yet another example of professional standards being undermined by commercial expediency.

I cannot imagine any circumstances where I would even contemplate making what appears to me to be a secret profit, and I would hope other practitioners would take the same view.

Michael Loveridge, Clitheroe, Lancashire