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What on earth is this profession coming to? 237 hours work to deal with an open and shut case and a solicitor who should have known that what he did was not permitted at a very fundamental level. How on earth could he have thought that getting another solicitor in his own firm to advise the client constituted independent advice? If he had put this in his answer to a question in the old Wills and Probate module at Law School he would have failed the module (and rightly so) for failing to grasp one of the most basic qualities required of a solicitor. You just tell the client to go down the street to another firm and forget about it. I told a client to do as much when she wanted to leave me a lot of valuable furniture and when she said she didn't want to go to another solicitor's firm I told her I couldn't draw up a will for her with the proposed gift to me in it. I reassured her that it was a matter of professional ethics and that I was happy to carry on acting for her as always and that my fees were the proper way of paying me for my time, not a legacy. I asked her why she wanted me to have her furniture and she said that she didn't want her daughter's husband to get his hands on it. This showed that her relationship with her family was a little strained and that I couldn't advise her properly about the Will if I were to receive a legacy. It's just a "common sense" rule which prevents a solicitor's interests conflicting with their client's interests.