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Ashley Balls: "What an extraordinary turnaround. 35 years ago there were half as many solicitors and twice the number of new houses built. Either lawyer productivity has fallen dramatically or the data is wrong".

I don't know if those statistics are correct but undoubtedly the increase in the number of lawyers is not made up of people who went into residential conveyancing. I qualified in 1981 which was just about the time that standard completion time was cut in half from four weeks to two and fees went from .5% of the price to a fixed sum with the result that within 10 years every residential conveyancer was working very long hours to keep pace with the increased expectations of clients for the same former personal service but at a much lower cost.
I remember a story told by a former senior partner about having a conversation with the late Robert Maxwell. Maxwell told him that the government were going to 'break the solicitors' monopoly on conveyancing'. Partner: "There isn't a solicitors' monopoly on conveyancing". Maxwell (puzzled): "What do you mean?". Partner: "You can always do it yourself". Maxwell: "Yes, if you value your time at £10 per hour". Partner: "Exactly".
I am profoundly grateful I never nailed my colours to the conveyancing mast.