We are obliged to produce a table of the categories of work for practising certificates, divided into percentages for each type of work undertaken. We must also do the same for professional indemnity insurance.

However, the breakdown of types of work seems to vary for each data requirement. Sometimes we have to break work down into ‘wills and probate’, sometimes ‘wills and trusts’ and separately ‘probate’ and any other permutation. Then there is ‘commercial’, ‘commercial conveyancing’ or ‘commercial landlord and tenant’, not to mention ‘civil’ (what does that mean?).

Would it not make sense for the Law Society, the SRA and the insurance companies to agree standard work categories? It would then be easier to set up on our computers work categories that fit the requirements rather than having to juggle information for each separate body that requires it: a tedious and time-confusing exercise that cannot do anything except lower the quality of shared information. Insurers can always ask bespoke questions if they so wish.

Richard Knight, Leicester