Parasitic or Symbiotic?

A couple of weeks ago I attended the Legal Aid Practitioners Annual Conference in Birmingham to speak about Lexcel and, specifically, my Firm's experience of implementing the Lexcel Standard. Upon arrival I was immediately struck by the apparent prosperity of those in attendance. Notwithstanding my mother's stricture "Never judge a book by the cover" and my admitted lack of fashion sense I have to say that the delegates were almost without exception well turned out. This struck me as being rather strange as my own Firm's experience of "Legal Aid" had forced me to conclude years ago that it was difficult to earn enough to keep a shirt on your back let alone a "designer" offering. I began to wonder if my Firm had somehow adopted the wrong strategy when looking to diversify away from this area ! However, a quick look at the delegate list provided the answer to the apparent paradox of low pay and sharp suits. The answer being that there were hardly any Solicitors at the event! The vast majority of those attending seemed to be Non - Solicitor Consultants or Practice Managers. Presumably the Legal Aid Solicitors who used to find the time to attend the event were busy sinking under the inexorable weight of their poorly remunerated case load.......I wonder exactly who is paying for the suits?