I have to thank Dr Julian Critchlow for his contribution because he helps to reinforce my point. He goes out of his way to use what I am sure is a well-deserved doctorate and I immediately felt immense respect for him.

However, he misses the point. My GP medical adviser commands my respect by his adoption of the doctor title, although he, like most such GPs, is only truly a bachelor of medicine and a bachelor of surgery. He did not have to study for a doctorate of medicine. Likewise my dentist is academically a bachelor of dental surgery and has never carried out research or written a thesis. Conversely, I am a bachelor of laws but, unlike my doctor and my dentist, I am still just ‘Mr’ and in my submission do not attract the same feeling of respect as them.

Let us rise up and assert ourselves and gain the respect that we deserve.

Jerry Pearlman, consultant solicitor, Zermansky & Partners, Leeds