Martin Comport explains that ‘sometimes, cynical me thinks that [legal aid] certificates are given on the basis of "let’s say the chances are 50/50 or less but then they will be much greater when the opposition know that we have a certificate"’.

Mr Comport can take comfort in the fact that for many years civil legal aid certificates have only been granted where prospects of success are greater that 50% (save in a limited number of exceptional cases, for example, where liberty is at stake), and that the Legal Services Commission’s Funding Code Criteria (which are published on the LSC’s website) contain a provision in the precise terms he suggests: ‘Full representation will be refused unless the likely benefits to be gained from the proceedings justify the likely costs, such that a reasonable private paying client would be prepared to litigate, having regard to the prospects of success and all other circumstances.’

If Mr Comport does not want to support the Law Society’s legal aid campaign that is his choice. But I hope he would agree that any debate about the future of legal aid should be based on accurate information about the operation of the current scheme.

Gareth Mitchell, partner, Pierce Glynn, London SE1