header-logo header-logo

Pro Bono Connect

31 January 2019 / Eleanor Campbell
Issue: 7826 / Categories: Features , Profession
printer mail-detail
Barristers & solicitors work together on fee-paid work, so why not provide the same service to pro bono clients, asks Eleanor Campbell

  • Pro Bono Connect is a scheme which aims to facilitate solicitors and barristers working together on pro bono cases in the same way as they would for fee-paying clients.
  • After a pilot in 2015 Pro Bono Connect was launched in 2016, and its network of participating firms and chambers continues to expand.
  • Taking on pro bono work in the litigation context can be daunting. For a barrister it means doing all the work a solicitor would do, in addition to advocacy. A solicitor may find themselves drafting pleadings and appearing at hearings, in addition to liaising with the lay client, preparing the case and conducting correspondence. These difficulties can mean that lawyers may be more reluctant to do pro bono work in the first place—at least where there is the prospect of litigation.

    This was the experience of Jamie Goldsmith, barrister at One Essex Court and founder of Pro

    If you are not a subscriber, subscribe now to read this content
    If you are already a subscriber sign in
    ...or Register for two weeks' free access to subscriber content

    MOVERS & SHAKERS

    Birketts—trainee cohort

    Birketts—trainee cohort

    Firm welcomes new cohort of 29 trainee solicitors for 2025

    Keoghs—four appointments

    Keoghs—four appointments

    Four partner hires expand legal expertise in Scotland and Northern Ireland

    Brabners—Ben Lamb

    Brabners—Ben Lamb

    Real estate team in Yorkshire welcomes new partner

    NEWS
    Robert Taylor of 360 Law Services warns in this week's NLJ that adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) risks entrenching disadvantage for SME law firms, unless tools are tailored to their needs
    From oligarchs to cosmetic clinics, strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) target journalists, activists and ordinary citizens with intimidating legal tactics. Writing in NLJ this week, Sadie Whittam of Lancaster University explores the weaponisation of litigation to silence critics
    Delays and dysfunction continue to mount in the county court, as revealed in a scathing Justice Committee report and under discussion this week by NLJ columnist Professor Dominic Regan of City Law School. Bulk claims—especially from private parking firms—are overwhelming the system, with 8,000 cases filed weekly
    Writing in NLJ this week, Thomas Rothwell and Kavish Shah of Falcon Chambers unpack the surprise inclusion of a ban on upwards-only rent reviews in the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill
    Charles Pigott of Mills & Reeve charts the turbulent progress of the Employment Rights Bill through the House of Lords, in this week's NLJ
    back-to-top-scroll