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Anon 6.37, if only you knew the half of it. There are a few, it is true, who charge over £500/hour on the big cities. But the vast majority of us are hard pressed outside the M 25 to be able to charge enough to make what a lot might call a 'comfortable living'. Some, indeed many, do not even pay the top rate of income tax. If that seems odd given what they charge, it is because our overheads are huge, especially our professional negligence insurance premiums, continuing professional development fees, etc etc. There are plenty who cannot even afford to retire because they would then have to pay c 3 x their annual insurance premiums for what is called 'run off' cover as we are required to be insured for six years after we have ceased practising.

This is why our fees seem high, but that is something the general public, and of course the press, seem either not to know, or not to care about, or to ignore.

And as for complaints, we are open to any reasonable suggestions which might result in our not appearing before LeO, SRA, or SDT, or, of course, the courts.

Life for most members of this profession is no bed of roses, financially or otherwise. Most practitioners wished to goodness that they had done something else, but find themselves trapped, hardly able to afford to stay in, and quite unable to afford to leave.