ALT Text reads: Starmer’s legal career. SIR – You report that Sir Keir Starmer, while at the bar, acted for some convicted prisoners who turned out to be entitled to be released from prison, along with the findings of “a trawl” of his cases. Barristers are professionally obliged to accept properly remunerated cases within their competence and for which they are available. Our code of conduct expressly prohibits a barrister from declining a case because of the barrister’s opinion of the client. We call this the cab-rank rule. This rule promotes access to justice and reflects the fact that the role of a lawyer is to advise and represent their client, not to judge their client. Judging is for judges or juries, not for us. The idea that barristers (or, in Scotland, advocates) should somehow be associated with the causes of those whom they represent is therefore misconceived. Nick Vineall KC, Bar of England and Wales Moira Smyth KC, Bar of Northern Ireland Roddy Dunlop KC, Faculty of Advocates