I can't resist jumping in on this . . . > > > Get your solicitor to send them a letter. > > Is a solicitor what we Americans would call a lawyer? > >Yes it is. The term "solicitor", used in Commonwealth countries, is much to be preferred over Americans' use of "lawyer" because the precise meaning of the verb "to solicit" is to accost, to make immoral request or offer, to pester by begging. The noun "solicitation" means the act of soliciting in the streets for immoral purposes. There is an offence of "soliciting", meaning to procure women for the purposes of prostitution. >It's obvious that this association of the word "solicitor" with vice, immorality & prostitution is so much more accurately evocative of the work practices & "ethics" of the legal profession than the misnomer "lawyer". One hopes its usage may be taken up by our American friends! PJH Agreed, in the interest of accuracy, we Americans should adopt a meaner word to describe those wretched scalywags who prostitute the law to the basest depths of carnal iniquity and avarice. However, this may be impossible now because the word "lawyer" has already experienced abject pejoration at the hands of our lawyers. Verily, the word "lawyer" now means "law whore". I can't resist coining a new term: "Lawhore". Cheers, James -- http://www.piclist.com hint: PICList Posts must start with ONE topic: [PIC]:,[SX]:,[AVR]: ->uP ONLY! [EE]:,[OT]: ->Other [BUY]:,[AD]: ->Ads