Pro Bono and Social Responsibility Committee
Executive: Ava Turnock
Co–Chair: Marina Faggionato - QEB
Co–Chair: Samantha Singer – QEB
Members:
Ben Cooper KC– Doughty Street Chambers
Zoe Leventhal KC - Matrix Chambers
David Abbott - CEO of FRU ( Free Representation Unit )
Toby Brown – South Square
Sophie Clayton - QEB
Stephanie Coker –Fourteen
Sarah Phillimore – St Johns Chambers
Shyam Popat – Chief Operating Officer and Head of Casework, Advocate
Leigh Royall – Senior Clerk, Spire Barristers
Laurie Scher - Maitland Chambers
Leanne Targett-Parker - 7 Harrington Street Chambers
Emma Torr - APPEAL
Rebecca Wilkie – CEO, Advocate
The terms of reference of the Committee are:
a. To lead work in promoting pro bono volunteering, in particular by liaising with pro bono charities and organisations involved in promoting access to justice;
b. To promote good practice in social responsibility (CSR) across the Bar;
c. To educate and inform members of the Bar about socially responsible business practices (in the workplace, community, environment and supply chain);
d. To engage with the Bar's stakeholders in relation to CSR activity on behalf of the Bar; and
e. To support all other Bar Council committees, panels and working groups with specific responsibility for aspects of Social Responsibility work (e.g. the Ethics, EDSM, Education & Training committees etc.)
Pro Bono and Social Responsibility Committee Panels
Co-Chairs: Estelle Dehon KC and Ben Cooper KC
The Climate Crisis Working Group was formed in April 2022. In March 2026, in recognition of the Working Group’s ongoing and broad programme of work and that wider nature-related issues were arising, because of the well-recognised link between climate and nature, the Group became the Nature and Climate Panel. The Purpose of the Panel is strengthening the Bar Council’s ability to understand and respond to the legal, ethical and practical implications of the climate crisis by promoting climate aware and environmentally sustainable practice across the profession. The Panel will further the profession’s understanding of how climate change and other environmental issues interact with core duties, practice areas, client needs and the public interest.
The Panel includes representatives from Circuits, Specialist Bar Associations and Inns of Court, as well as groups at the Bar with a specific focus on the climate and nature. The Panel will:
- Promote understanding of, and engagement with nature and climate-related risks and responsibilities; ensuring barristers have relevant knowledge of the impact of climate change on their practice and their ethical obligations in the context of the climate crisis.
- Support chambers and Bar-based organisations in recording and reducing their carbon emissions and in introducing environmentally sustainable policies/practices (including via support for the Bar Sustainability Network).
- Work with Bar Council (including with the International and Law Reform committees) (i) to respond to policy and legislative developments; and (ii) to propose policy and legislative change – where relevant and appropriate.
Purpose of the panel
The purpose of the panel is to strengthen our ability to understand and respond to the legal, ethical, and practical implications of the climate crisis by promoting climate-aware, environmentally sustainable practice across the profession. The panel will help further the profession’s understanding of how climate change and other environmental issues interact with core duties, practice areas, client needs and the public interest.
The panel includes representatives from circuits, specialist Bar associations and Inns of Court, as well as groups at the Bar with a specific focus on the climate and nature.
Role of the Panel
- Promote understanding of, and engagement with, nature and climate-related risks and responsibilities, ensuring barristers have relevant knowledge of the impact of climate change on their practice and their ethical obligations in the context of the climate crisis.
- Support chambers and Bar-based organisations in recording and reducing their carbon emissions and in introducing environmentally sustainable policies and practices, including via support for the Bar Sustainability Network.
- Work with the Bar Council, including the International and Law Reform committees, to respond to policy and legislative developments and to propose policy and legislative change where relevant and appropriate.