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Anonymous 4 November 2014 10:57 am, to be fair to some of the people you criticise as encouraging a public perception that lawyers are all greedy, they are suggesting a valid tactic to oppose the gutting of legal aid. The problem is EVERYONE needs to agree to a common strategy or it can't work.

I hope that you would accept that the government is relying on our social consciences to mitigate the damage they have done to the system. They know that we are generally good people that entered this industry because we care about people and their needs. As such they can be pretty sure that no matter how much they withdraw the state and renege on their responsibilities, there will be people so horrified by the consequences that they will step in.

The problem is that our consciences are what allows them to take these steps to destroy us. What is being suggested by the "anti-pro-bono" people is that we should refuse out right to be a part of our own destruction. Let the system collapse and show it up as the sham it is. Our own miner's strike. Effectively those that continue to provide pro-bono work are scabs.

The issue, as you have rightly pointed out, is that this will make us deeply unpopular, and we could go the way of the miners.The questions is, do we car more about public perception or maintaining our legal system? Can we convince the public that we may look like we're being unreasonable, but that we're ultimately doing it because we care about them? It's a dangerous tactic, but I am starting to believe myself that it may be the only one that will work. If we continue to step in, the government will be content that the system works. I believe there needs to be a discussion within the profession about what we can do, can we withdraw our good will and refuse to act for free?

As an aside accusing Ms Stevens of doing damage as some people have here is deeply unfair, no common strategy has been agreed yet, and expecting individuals to ignore their conscience when there is no common goal or support from the profession is just not reasonable.