Employed go pro bono

Employed barristers can now do pro bono work, the Bar Council has confirmed. The professional indemnity insurance provider Bar Mutual has approved cover for the employed Bar, enabling in-house practitioners to work pro bono via the Bar Pro Bono Unit or the Free Representation Unit. Andrew Langdon QC, who called for the extension of cover earlier this year, said: ‘By making this small change, Bar Mutual have not only freed up many barristers… it has also given those people, often in dire straits, who cannot afford a lawyer a potentially wider pool of barristers who may be able to help them.’