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26 September 2025
Issue: 8132 / Categories: Legal News , Pro Bono , Profession , Training & education , Career focus , Charities
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NLJ this week: Pro bono power without the red tape

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Bea Rossetto of the National Pro Bono Centre makes the case for ‘General Practice Pro Bono’—using core legal skills to deliver life-changing support, without the need for niche expertise—in this week's NLJ

Projects like University House’s Housing Disrepair scheme show how City lawyers, guided by training and supervision, can help tenants stuck in dangerous homes. From drafting letters to managing client relationships, commercial lawyers are proving that the basics of lawyering can secure repairs, improve housing and rebuild lives.

Volunteers report unexpected lessons in client care, particularly when working across language and cultural barriers. Rossetto stresses that the impact is immediate for clients, but also transformative for practitioners, boosting perspective and purpose.

With more than 32 firms already engaged, the model demonstrates how pro bono work extends capacity, strengthens communities and gives lawyers a chance to use their skills where they matter most.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Harneys—Maggie Kwok & George Weston

Harneys—Maggie Kwok & George Weston

Harneys senior leadership appointments

Freeths—Keith Browne & Jim Jordan

Freeths—Keith Browne & Jim Jordan

Freeths strengthens London Construction and Engineering practice with two strategic senior hires

Anthony Collins—Laura Moss

Anthony Collins—Laura Moss

Anthony Collins announces strategic hire to deepen skills base in the social business sector

NEWS
More than 100 teams from the legal and financial services sectors competed in five sports at the 51st Law Society RFC Festival of Sport earlier this month
Part-time status need only be an effective cause of less favourable treatment, rather than the sole cause, the Supreme Court has held in Augustine v Data Cars
Britain’s new acknowledgement that Israel’s occupation is unlawful, and accompanying settlement-goods ban and sanctions, is significant but overdue, argue Danny Friedman KC and Victor Kattan in NLJ this week
New planning fee rises, wider trade union access rights and a service-by-email trap feature in Stephen Gold’s latest Civil Way
Existing defamation law can respond to AI ‘hallucinations’, but allocating responsibility will prove harder where outputs reach users without human intervention
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