Without wishing to make light of what is clearly a very serious matter for the Norfolk solicitor who had been charging clients by the weight of their files – Brian D Woodham’s letter (see [2009] Gazette, 3 December 11) about the practice of a former High Court judge who seemed to follow similar principles – caused me to reflect upon the possible link to the current billing procedure in Crown court cases. Here the bulk of the fee is determined by the thickness of the prosecution papers .The more pages, the greater the fee.

A case, perhaps, of ‘never mind the weight, feel the width!’

Steven Mann, Managing partner, Smith Partnership, Derby