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This is a topic, like unqualified Will-writers, that is going to run and run endlessly unless and until society / the country as a whole decides otherwise.

I work with a country, Spain, that in essence has Will-writing only done by qualified notaries and litigation only being done by qualified advocates.

Compared to England & Wales, when it comes to the issue of Will-writing Spain is simply miles ahead of this country in every respect.

I think that Spain could usefully look at trusts, the role of the personal representative, and the over-reaching provisions of the 1925 property legislation, but looking solely at the topic of Will-writing there is little this country can teach Spain. Ditto when it comes to using legally qualified personnel in civil and criminal litigation.

Yes, we are all inexperienced until we get some experience. Yes, there are some rubbish fully qualified legal practitioners ... in both countries.

Very briefly, there are, I think, two or three things that Spain could do with looking at in England & Wales. (i) Court fees have to be far more recoverable in Spain than they currently are, (ii) Spain's legal professionals need to keep much more sophisticated accounts than they do at present, plus undergo external audits, and (iii) extend its jury trials from, at present, only murder to sex offences and the more serious domestic violence cases ... but there is much that England & Wales can learn from Spain.

It is essentially a cheap legal system that I haven't noticed produces more injustices in its judgments than the English legal system, with the crucial difference that in England & Wales the costs orders themselves are often a source of injustice.

If we can make our legal system cheaper, (and I think there is much scope for making it a lot cheaper than it currently is, for example, discouraging overmanning ... in Spain you might see just one fully qualified lawyer from start to finish whilst in England & Wales there is all too often a phenomenal number of people in a firm, qualified & unqualified, and sadly not just bona fide trainees but anybody and everybody who the firm thinks might get away with being classed as a fee-earner that the loser might end up being ordered by the court to pay for, plus barristers, working on a case ...), and if we widen access to legal aid instead of reducing eligibility, (Spain for all practical purposes gives virtually all criminal defendants legal aid, although the sum paid to the lawyer is a flat rate fixed fee per case that is, I think, far too little), we can limit McKenzie Friends to what they originally were, ie people who helped their friends and relatives in litigation for free.