True convictionsI have read with interest numerous letters regarding the criminal defender service and legal aid contracts.

The government and the Legal Service Commission should be congratulated for the way in which they have managed to set the hourly rate for solicitors below that of the average mechanic or plumber.

What would happen if the Lord Chancellor asked a plumber to visit his house at 2am to undertake emergency work for 60 per hour? The last time I booked my car in for a service, the mechanic charged me 85 per hour and made a comment about how lawyers charge a fortune.

He obviously didn't realise cars are worth more than justice.

Well, I have finally seen the light.

After two years' practising legally-aided criminal law I'm off to Australia.

For a nation that is joked about as being a home of convicts, it is ironic that I am one of a number of lawyers in their late twenties to early thirties who has had enough over here and is going to be better off over there.

I thought justice was priceless in a democratic society, clearly I was wrong.

Finally, solicitors seem to be taking action against these appalling rates and the lack of information about the future.

I myself am taking the most direct action possible and moving to another country - I suppose the government will be glad about the opportunity to reduce the legal aid bill even further, if only by a small amount.Sean Stocks, solicitor, Aldershot