Title schemes endanger jobs

Solicitor Brian Marson warns that if solicitors expect to be paid something by lender clients they could well lose conveyancing work altogether ("Are we pricing ourselves out?" The Lawyer 6 August).

It really is rather demeaning to suggest that any labourer (including a solicitor) is not worth his or her hire. I sometimes wonder whether we are returning to the Dark Ages under the guise of technological advancement. A combination of on-line communication and the odd insurance policy will replace the need for independent and skilled legal advice. I wonder, would this be in the public interest or solely in the interests of the financial giants who now dominate our society?

Is Mr Marson a disinterested observer? Turn to the back page of the same issue of The Lawyer ("US-style title insurance threatens solicitors' remortgaging business") and draw your own conclusions.

It does seem that Mr Marson has a vested interest in promoting the replacement of solicitors by title insurance schemes.

Is he simply deserting a sinking ship or actively helping it on its way down?



Anthony Bogan

Saunders Palmer Ure

Hounslow.