Some advocates are more equal than others

All animals are equal except that in the Court of Appeal some are more equal than others.

I represented a young man in the Crown court when he received an 11-year sentence for an extremely serious wounding. The two co-accused were both represented by counsel and I was paid on a par with them.

I recently represented him in the appeal court in a (successful) appeal against this sentence. The provisions there for payment are that solicitor-advocates are not recognised as advocates and my claim was only allowed as a solicitor. For that I was allowed £53 an hour for preparation and for the hearing itself I was allowed the magnificent sum of £45.15.

I invite the Law Society to take steps to address this unfair anomaly.

John Wolfson, Solicitor-advocate, Platt Halpern, Manchester