Letter: Law without profits

Sir: The Lord Chancellor's department has issued proposals for standard fees payable to family solicitors working in the legal aid sector.

The proposals would drastically reduce the amount of money paid to such solicitors and would necessarily reduce in direct proportion the amount of time which solicitors could spend on individual legally-aided cases. Productivity has already been maximised virtually to its limit. It is inevitable that legally aided clients, and justice, will suffer.

In case your readers think this is an unjustified moan by "fat cat" lawyers, can I ask which other employment would pay pounds 150 for 10 days' work, which is what family solicitors would be paid for 10 days' High Court advocacy under the new proposals? And from this amount we have to pay ourselves, our staff and all our overheads.

LYNN ROBERTS

London NW1