Critics suggest that the solicitorsandbarristers who were asked to make a donation may feel obliged to do so, since the lord chancellor can effectively make or break their careers.
That warning is revealing, not least because solicitorsandbarristers, the two wings of the legal profession, have been quietly ripping off the public purse for years by pursuing cases financed by the taxpayer which had minimal chances of success.
Lawyers should be free to set up shop both with outside investors and with other species of lawyer, so that barristers could form partnerships with solicitors, for example.