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One of the many benefits of reading the Gazette online is the ability to see on a cumulative basis what I happening to the profession.

Change, when it is positive, can still be a difficult exercise for some lawyers, but actions in the name of innovation must not become a mere cloak for the piecemeal emasculation of our profession by over zealous regulators and others.

I see from recent articles that the LSB is fascinated by the idea of third parties holding client funds such as in France, but why should we emulate alien concepts which will collide with the modern demands of a commercial common law system moving at high speed?

What about firms with large probate and trust departments?

Are lawyers in the USA really mistrusted when it comes to holding client funds?

Now we see the SRA asking lawyers to give simplistic, but wide ranging in their effect regulatory warranties, which seem innocuous, but once more tighten the screw of unnecessary regulation to the detriment of the profession.

The Law Society must now reconnect with its members by challenging robustly what the regulators are articulating since I fear for its future if ordinary solicitors like me feel they are being pushed to the edge.