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I assume the above poster is "Harry Dischler".

Waiting around at Court is but one problem faced by the average solicitor (and for the record I work in neither criminal law nor legal aid funded areas); if you do work in the above you also have to wait around at police stations.

The Courts do not run on time because they its not that easy. Hearings do run over time, preparation will take longer than previously thought and Judges have to balance having enough time to deal with a matter properly with heavy work loads and backlogs, which invariably leads to timings not flowing perfectly. To beat an old drum, LIPs in addition will want an opportunity to make their point and will need a suitable amount of hand-holding whilst they go through the process; this again depending on the person delays matters (and explaining to your client why the fees they incur are going up because the other side refuses to pay any is always a fun conversation). The main reason (in my opinion) that Courts don't run on time is that they don't have to - they are not privately run and therefore will not go out of business, and targets are not easily set for Courts. In any event, why would the Court worry about a law firm's bottom line if it doesn't have to?

Fixed fees are available, and many firms will do them. The examples you raise though are not necessarily appropriate - and many firms using fixed fees will undercut themselves in doing so. This usually includes the extras that you would include a fee for - I know that the fees my firm charges for wills don't come close to the time that is required to draft them and therefore does not help with the considerable overheads.

On top of the above, solicitors will occasionally do pro-bono work (when time/overheads permit). What other professions can you think of where people go out of their way to work for free?

The law society and the SRA does a lot for lawyers - persecutes those who make clerical errors, imposes anti-competitive obligations on solicitors whilst opening up the field to unregulated competition and adds further red tape to the process. Insists on insurance requirements that are beyond that of other professions (such as accountants), makes solicitors fill out anti-diversity data every year (despite solicitors actually being quite good at this sort of thing) and points the finger at its members for not doing enough work pro-bono.

...and on top of that, as pointed out by "Harry" (if you are not he) above, there is a "negative reaction" to those in the profession.