Solicitors undertake £338 worth of free legal services

Monday 12 November 2007

Private practice solicitors in England and Wales provided £338 million worth of work on a pro bono (free) basis in the past 12 months. Based on an average hourly charge out rate of £193, this represents approximately £8,200 for each solicitor who had undertaken pro bono work.

The figures, produced by the Law Society Strategic Research Unit, are positive launch to National Pro Bono Week, a week-long nationwide campaign to celebrate the range and impact of free services (pro bono) provided by lawyers, often in collaboration with other professionals also acting free.

This considerable figure, an estimated 2% of total gross fee income for the solicitors profession, does not include the contribution made by in-house solicitors and other legal professionals including barristers and legal executives who regularly give free advice to meet unmet need, at law centres and clinics across England and Wales. Therefore the total value of the pro bono work undertaken by lawyers is significantly higher.

In preparation for pro bono week, two separate surveys were commissioned by the Law Society to measure the amount of pro bono work undertaken by solicitors. The first survey measured the volume and value of pro bono work being undertaken by solicitors, based on the number and value of chargeable hours. The second survey explored law firm’s policies on pro bono work, and estimated the value of pro bono work undertaken and the extent to which it is co-ordinated, supervised and recorded.

The surveys found that 65% of private practice solicitors had conducted pro bono work at some point in the past. While over 51% percent indicated that they had conducted pro bono work within the past twelve months, an increase on the 45% recorded in 2002.

40% of the individual solicitors who had undertaken pro bono work in the past twelve months indicated that the main reason they did so was to help people.
67% of firms indicated they undertook pro bono work.
63% of firms indicated that the decision to do pro bono work was left to individual fee earners, while one fifth of firms reported that it was firm policy to encourage its fee earners to do pro bono work.
83% of firms indicated that they allowed fee earners to undertake pro bono work during working hours while eighty percent of firms indicated that the total amount of time the firm as a whole spent on pro bono activities was not always reported.

Andrew Holroyd, Law Society President, said: “National Pro Bono Week celebrates the remarkable amount of pro bono work undertaken by all parts of the profession, from law students through to senior partners. The common feature in National Pro Bono Week is the willingness of lawyers put something back into the community. The website, www.probonouk.net, is an excellent source of information on accessing free legal advice. However it is important to remember that pro bono is not a replacement for a legal aid system adequately funded by Government.”