As I write this article, I anticipate that the majority, if not all of the readers will have undertaken some form of pro bono work within the last twelve months. In fact, Advocate, the Bar’s pro bono charity proports to work with over 4,500 barristers, over a quarter of the number of barristers in England and Wales.
With so many barristers taking time out to provide unpaid voluntary assistance, one might ask why I am writing to ask you to offer your time to assist? Simply put, despite all the amazing work that is done on a voluntary basis every year, there still remains an enormous amount of work which requires legal representation and sadly not enough members of the Bar to cover it.
The other week, I received an email from Advocate listing cases which they required assistance on. These ra...