I am disappointed to read of the Legal Services Policy Institute’s suggestion that training contracts be scrapped and that students qualify immediately upon completion of the LPC (see [2009] Gazette, 24 September, 1).

I am sure all solicitors presently practising, whether as long in the tooth as me, or more recently qualified, will agree that the training period in practice is the most valuable part of the qualification process.

Theory is all very well, even when the LPC is as practical as it now is, but it cannot fully prepare you for life at the coal face. In these days of focus on risk, and the pressures upon the PII of many firms, this would be a retrograde step for the profession and the public.

The suggestion that less qualification is needed for reserved work, such as advocacy, than for unreserved transactional and employment advice work, cannot be universally true.

We should be careful to guard the quality and consistency that the code and professional pride should protect.

Frances Coulson, Managing partner, Moon Beever Solicitors, London