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Small Claims (Courts)

: The hon. Gentleman is right about that, but I am trying to describe the justice pyramid. The more that people can avoid courts and lawyers, the better. Yes, insurance companies often are resistant. A third general point is that finding lawyers who are able, willing and not too overworked to deal with such cases is difficult. There are reputable lawyers and law firms that are very good about taking up cases on behalf of ordinary citizens in my borough, but my experience over years of referring people for personal injury matters is that they are very overworked indeed. A general weakness of the system and one of the difficulties of the world we live in—a world in which the compensation culture is growing—is that the number of requests for help from the legal system is growing, so we are at risk of requiring more and more legal firms. The proportion of people in our society and in the world at large who are going to end up as lawyers seems to be growing all the time. I do not see that as a healthy sign. It appears to be inevitable that we are going down that road, but I wish that it was not.