We are a busy practice with three offices with Legal Service Commission (LSC) franchises.

Each year we are given a limit on the number of new matters we can carry out under the legal help scheme.

For these purposes, the year begins in April and yet by September we had already reached our quota in several of our franchise categories, including family and tolerance.

There is clearly a high demand for the services we provide, yet we are faced with the decision of whether or not to accept new clients who are eligible for such help.

Accepting new clients would mean that we are exceeding our target without approval of the LSC, and therefore risk the prospect of no remuneration for the work we carry out.

The LSC is currently looking at the size of its regional pie to see whether target levels can be adjusted.

For the past few months we have awaited the decision with bated breath.

There are few firms in the area that can offer this much-needed service, and at present demand is not being met.

The public's view of the legal profession can only be adversely affected by our inability to act on their behalf because the pie is not big enough or is wrongly allocated.

Lyndsay Poulsom, Everett Tomlin Lloyd & Pratt, Pontypool