DEBATE Carter: how will it affect your practice?

The tremors triggered by Lord Carter's review of legal aid were already rocking the high street well before he delivered his report last Thursday. The brief '“ to bring legal aid costs under control '“ was known to all, and most in legal circles agreed that public funding could not go on increasing indefinitely without greater accountability and efficiency.

But what sort of reform would allow the system to continue to deliver the same or even better value at lower cost? Many fear that a market-based approach will spell the end of smaller firms serving the local community; that peer review will not provide an adequate measure of quality; that the only way of achieving efficiencies will be to cut corners; and that success will be assessed purely on the basis of structures and processes.

Yes, costs will be reduced and allocated more efficiently, but the quality of legal advice, reduced to a pure commodity, will decline, and legal advice deserts will spread around the country. But is this really what is looming behind Lord Carter's reform? solicitors journal asked members of the profession for their reactions. They range from outright scepticism to the constructively critical'¦ and the entirely encouraging.