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Well flabber my gast! What other profession (please infer a stress on that word here, as we are, after all, supposed to be professionals which implies a certain level of training and knowledge all gained with sweat, a lot of tears, and not a small amount of money being outlaid) has to put up with people who should know better asking us to dumb down? *takes deep breath to calm down*

Now listen, I'm all for things being simpler. I'd love to be able to read some of the Civil Procedure Rules without having to read them ten times due to the sub-clauses and sub-sub-clauses, but come on - there has to be a level of knowledge and ability to understand terminology and let's face it, the actual law, that is not on the level of a Janet and John book.

What other profession would put up with some higher up that has lost touch with reality tell it that it has to do an ABC version of all of the knowledge its accumulated so that opponents can spot any flaws that exist and therefore gain the upper hand?

Am I too cynical? As I've commented before, all that we have is our knowledge and experience. That is all that we are selling as a service. We have gained that knowledge and experience through hard work and toil, and we deserve to be paid for giving advice to those seeking it as part of a solicitor/client agreement. So, why would be be happy with making it easy to dispense with our services? I'm in no way advocating that we make it more difficult for litigants in person, but I am saying that the law should be the law and the rules should be the rules as they have been laid down and not altered to accommodate a group of persons due to their lack of knowledge. There is a way to gain that knowledge - engage the services of a solicitor.

And yes, I know there will be a flurry of 'LiPs can't afford a lawyer', and I sympathise, but the level of costs claimable are already making the provision of some legal services unsustainable, and it's a dying breed of solicitor that can afford to provide free legal advice at the level that used to be provided over the many years I've practised. Politicians have brought us to this, bartering off our legal system and making justice just another commodity instead of the backbone of our civilisation.

Right, off to speak to a chap about the ins and outs of his accident at work claim, armed with a file full of health and safety regulations. Maybe we can just colour instead.