Pro bono
Many barristers devote their time to pro bono work by providing legal advice or representation for free to those in need, or by volunteering their skills in another capacity e.g. careers advice in schools, acting as a trustee or even coaching a team of students for a mock trial competition.
The Bar Council established a dedicated committee to support pro bono work in 2016. Details of current members and its terms of reference can be found here. If you want to contact the committee please email us.
The Bar Council's Pro Bono and Social Responsbility Committee is responsible for:
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Collecting (and communicating) information about the Bar (and individual barrister's) pro bono activity
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Working with partners to support pro bono activity (and tackle any barriers faced by barristers interested in pro bono work)
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Supporting pro bono charities
To achieve these objectives, the committee works closely with Advocate: The pro bono charity of the Bar.
- Barristers provide pro bono support via different routes including: Advocate (formerly the Bar Pro Bono Unit) and day schemes like CLIPS; a solicitor client; legal advice centres; and direct access.
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3,846 barristers are currently Advocate panel members, just shy of a quarter of the Bar.
- Help given by the Bar through Advocate alone in 2018 equated to almost 11,000 hours of assistance (with an equivalent value of almost £2.3million)
LawWorks' Richard Pitkethly talks to Greg Hodder, Access to Justice Foundation about pro bono cost orders, which provide vital funding for free legal help. Listen to it here.
Guide to Pro Bono
Read the Guide to Pro Bono: Free Legal Advice in England and Wales, published by the Bar Council in partnership with the Law Society and CILEx.
Pro Bono opportunities
View our list of Pro Bono schemes and opportunities available to barristers.
Advocate
Advocate is a charity that finds free legal assistance from volunteer barristers
National Legal support trust
The Bar Council along with others across the profession support the legal walks.
Bar in the community
For more information on other types of volunteering, e.g. being a trustee or a school governor, please visit the Bar in the Community website.
Pro Bono Cost Orders
Pro bono costs provide vital funding for free legal help.