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Stuart Hathaway: 'Such opprobrium attends upon the attorneys name, that unless my observation errs, they have all become solicitors' - as a contemporary verse had it.

Taking the story pretty much at face value (I appreciate there are criticisms) consider the possible consequences: far fewer solicitors will be required, and those seeking to become solicitors will be reluctant - or incapable - of paying the fees for the current process of training and qualification. So there will be changes in the training process (changes are already on their way in this area). A possible outcome would be a reversion to how it was when my father and grandfathers qualified: unpaid 5 year articles, to a solicitor relative or family friend, with centrally set exams along the way. No degree required. Firms will rely heavily on what used to be called managing clerks, and firms will be small, with few partners - a maximum of 20, say? Many solicitors will have interests in other areas of business, like property development. Social mobility will decline, because of the high cost of entry - assuming of course that being a solicitor will still be considered a desirable profession.

Some areas - one thinks principally of the traditional City firms - may be immune to all this, but they will cease to be solicitors, and adopt a different training path and different title - scriveners, say, or attorneys.

In 30 years' time we could be back to the 1930s; and in 80 years' time back to the 1750s...