Deriving from the Latin pro bono publico, meaning ‘for the public good’, the idea of providing free legal advice has been ingrained in the legal profession for centuries.
Why participate?
As a result of paid jobs being few and far between, involvement in some form of pro bono or volunteering work is becoming increasingly important. That's not just because there are people out there who need your help, but because pro bono experience can really help boost your CV.
Experience suggests that those who have been most active have found it much easier to land job interviews. Being able to demonstrative proactive involvement in a cause and achieving real results for those in need will help get your application to the front of the queue. Practising lawyers can – and perhaps ought to – continue to help their communities by providing free legal advice via organisations like LawWorks.
Law schools make a particular effort to introduce students to pro bono. As Jessica Austen, joint director of pro bono at BPP, told us: “Being involved in pro bono allows students to see the law they are studying come to life in a practical sense and the impact their participation can have on the community around them. This is particularly true now, given access to justice is so much more challenging following the legal aid cuts. Pro bono projects give students the chance to improve their organisational and interpersonal skills as well as making a worthwhile contribution to those unable to afford to pay for legal assistance.”
Many firms now have formal pro bono relationships with organisations such as community legal advice centres. Arguably the increased scope and visibility of pro bono work is in part due to the greater importance placed on pro bono by the many US law firms which have entered the UK market. Certainly more home-grown law firms now recognise the business case for doing this kind of work, not least because it's a way of showing what they care about.
Getting experience in practice
Getting involved couldn’t be easier when you’re at law school: in light of the threats posed to law centres across the country, more universities, like Liverpool John Moores, have been opening their own legal advice centres (LJM's is supported by LawWorks). Furthermore, many law schools now offer extensive pro bono programmes via associations with certain organisations. Cardiff Law School has the Innocence Project, for example, which deals with long-term prisoners who maintain their innocence and have exhausted the initial appeals process.
At university level, student pro bono opportunities traditionally used to be more limited, as it was seen as too risky for inexperienced undergrads to provide real-life legal advice. But this is changing now as undergraduates are receiving more support. You can go to The National Pro Bono Centre for more information.
If you hope to go to the Bar or become a solicitor specialising in any contentious area of law, then you should seriously consider becoming a ratified member of the Free Representation Unit (FRU), a charity founded in 1972 to provide legal advice, case preparation and advocacy for people who aren’t able to claim legal aid.
Find out more about the pro bono opportunities on offer at the firms in our guide.