The Legal Profession - Help or Hinderance ?

Having been in Commerce as an accountant for the past 18 years I was delighted when Labour introduced The Late Payment of Commercial Debts Act in 1998, and when Lord Woolf made recomendations to simplify the process of litigation resulting in the setting up of MoneyClaim Online,

But now some many years down the line I can't realy tell whether the improvements have made the slightest difference and can't help wondering why this is.

I think lack of knowledge has to be the main factor. Im amazed that I still speak to lawyers who have never heard of Late Payment of Commercial Debts Act... It's like asking an accountant if they know of a payment method called 'writing a cheque'

Those people that do seem to have an understanding of the legislation often state that they do not apply it for fear of upsetting their client - OK valid point but why are they frightened, surely all clients are honourable and pay their bills on time and righlty accept that when they don't they should pay interest - those same clients don't seem to have a problem paying their banks interest for their overdrafts do they ?

Finally those suppliers that do move forward reach in my view the biggest, costliest, most time consuming mountain of the lot... The Legal Profession, who in my view I'm sure only exist for one reason and one reason alone... to protect the guilty at the cost of the innocent...

So please could you post a simple answer to my question.

The Legal Profession, Help or Hinderence ?