I am a member of that unloved and endangered species: the older criminal sole practitioner. I have gloomily signed my new general criminal contract, thereby consigning myself to potentially less work (because of Police Station Advice Direct) and almost certainly less income (because of police station fixed fees).


In the same week, I have the monthly challenge: submission of the CDS6 claim form - 'off line', arid, nicely handwritten. For the first time ever, since I took the Queen's shilling, my billing efforts were not so much modest as miserable, less than half of the target figure. This, as we all know, is a reflection of less work and I wish, in the public good as well as, incidentally, our own, that the police would not only arrest criminals but actually charge them.



In the same week, I received a representation order which is in a new form. I am now a 'litigator' not a solicitor, or an advocate.



The reality is that business is not good and none of the above helps. The adage 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it' comes to mind, but we carry on - just as the Legal Services Commission knows and relies that we will.



Raymond McVeighty, Birmingham