A Pro Bono Journey

PRO BONO

A Pro Bono Journey

This November marks the 21st Pro Bono Week. As we reflect upon the success of this year’s pro bono week, many of us in the pro bono community are thinking back to the first steps we made and how far we have travelled.

In 1997, twenty five years ago, Hogan Lovells appointed a full-time, legally qualified, pro bono manager, the first of its kind in Europe. That same year, LawWorks was founded, as the Solicitors Pro Bono Group. The solicitors Pro Bono Group (known to its friends as the SPBG) was founded by a group of law firms to assist the profession in moving towards greater coordination of its pro bono activities. In its first few years, there were a handful of pro bono managers and LawWorks was a mechanism through which to discuss, debate and drive through best practice amongst a growing, but young, pro bono culture. We held our first Pro Bono Conference in 1998, and in 2001 we launched the LawWorks for Community Groups (now known as the Not-for-Profits Programme). The programme was aimed at corporate and in-house lawyers who traditionally had no means to become involved in legal volunteering. The pro bono legal work brokered by the programme work aligned easily with the skill set of the solicitor volunteer but still had an important social purpose. Volunteer lawyers were able to use their existing legal expertise, to help clients without the means to pay, and together make a positive social impact.

Twenty-five years later, this programme remains a flagship LawWorks programme, and we work with over 100 firms and in-house teams to provide support to around 100 not-for-profits every year. The programme has expanded to also include training for not-for-profits and long-term support in the form of a pro bono General Counsel. Working for and with not-for-profits who cannot afford legal advice remains a key element of pro bono work throughout the sector, and a vital source of capacity and resource to those organisations who are fighting for and supporting the most vulnerable people in our society.

Yet, over the past decade we have also seen the expansion of pro bono work ‘for individuals. A decade ago, this work was largely based in community clinics, where lawyers would partner with community organisations to give one off legal advice to local people in need. These clinics provided an opportunity for lawyers, often with corporate expertise, to give back in a very personal way to people with legal needs in their communities. The LawWorks Clinics Network continues to support community clinics on its network of over 300 clinics, however the type of clinics has diversified over the years, not least with the arrival of technology and remote support.

The development of ‘secondary specialisation’ pro bono work, has really expanded the breadth of pro bono work that lawyers can contribute to. This is where, often corporate, solicitors are trained and supervised in an area of law outside their usual expertise. At LawWorks, we have three in-house specialist lawyers who oversee the training and supervision of our members on various areas of social welfare and employment law. There are also many excellent examples of secondary specialisation development in areas of housing, immigration and family law. These projects often provide end-to-end case work for individuals. The work can have a profound impact on both the client and the volunteer. Whilst the client gets the help they vitally need, lawyers feedback the value the work has to them both in terms of professional and personal development.

The wonderful thing about pro bono is that it is a virtuous circle. The client wins, because they are getting the advice, they need but would not otherwise have been able to access; the lawyer wins because they are getting experience, training and client contact, as well as a sense of well-being that may not otherwise be available to them; the firms win because they are able to demonstrate their legal and social values, attracting the best talent and new clients; society wins because access to justice grows.

Pro bono cannot and will never be a replacement for a wellfunded legal aid system. Rather it is a spotlight that can highlight gaps in the system and demonstrate innovative solutions. It is also the best way a solicitor can give their time. At no point in a lawyer’s career do they not have something to give. Students, paralegals, associates, partners, academics, have all found ways to contribute to the pro bono eco-system which in turns contributes to the wider access to justice framework upon which the Rule of Law relies. If you’re not already involved, let November 2022 mark the anniversary of when you started your pro bono journey.

Rebecca Wilkinson

Rebecca Wilkinson

Chief Executive

LawWorks