Young Lawyers Event, Pro Bono Week 2024

Twenty-three percent of the barristers on our panel of volunteers are young barristers, so we were particularly excited to hold this event tailored to those in the early stages of their career in the profession. At the event, we heard from an insightful panel of young barristers and solicitors, who shared their experience of taking on pro bono work, advice on how to manage it alongside their everyday practice, and their tips for working with vulnerable clients.

Hazel Samuriwo, barrister at 42BR and Advocate Panel Member, drew particular attention to the scale of pro bono need, highlighting her motivation to do pro bono work:

“I see it as my duty to be able to help people. The reality is that many people are having to navigate the legal system without assistance. Being a lawyer is a great privilege, and it comes with responsibility.”

Benjamin Smith, Senior Associate at Lewis Silkin LLP, spoke honestly about the importance of being able to balance pro bono work alongside your everyday practice effectively:

“Pro bono clients should be treated as any other client. You don't get to short-change them on the investment in time, or the quality of service that you're giving, because they're not paying. If anything, you need to be opposite of that…That said, you don't need to start out by going, okay, I'm going to commit to a case that's going to run for five years”.

George Grammer-Taylor, a trainee at Clyde & Co, gave advice about working with vulnerable pro bono clients and how to reset the power imbalance to make the client feel heard and respected:

“…The most vulnerable in society just want to be treated as an equal…I think as a junior lawyer, when you're assisting on a pro bono matter, often you're going to be brought in halfway through or you're going to be meeting someone as a one-off piece of assistance. Just treat them like a human being…use their first name because it's such a small thing to do, but it really resets that mode”.

Eleanor Campbell, a commercial barrister at One Essex Court, and Peter Saban, a solicitor at Arnold & Porter, spoke about their experience working together through Pro Bono Connect. Eleanor spoke about the ‘game changing’ power of having solicitors involved in pro bono cases working alongside barristers:

 “…They were able to conduct correspondence and send out letters on their letterhead that actually give a client a voice with some sort of authority and credibility in a way that an email, perhaps even from me, just wouldn't have looked the same.”

Peter Saban then spoke about how pro bono cases have been some of the most rewarding he has worked on. He shared how clients are grateful for being guided through the legal process above anything else: “It can be the smallest thing, and you just don't realise the effect that you can have.”

The panel was skilfully chaired by Patrick Devine of 7 King’s Bench Walk, who could also speak from his pro bono experience.

After a short question and answer session, we were honoured to close the evening with a speech from Lord Hodge, Deputy President of the Supreme Court.

Lord Hodge spoke about pro bono work as an essential and historic aspect of the profession which continues to this day:

"Given the widespread unavailability of legal aid, pro bono has never been more important…the rules of common law require guidance to navigate. Pro bono volunteering doesn’t solve the problem, but it does help”.

Lord Hodge also detailed how pro bono work represents a fundamental commitment to the rule of law and access to justice, and presents numerous opportunities for young lawyers, be it to explore new areas of law or to collaborate with other lawyers.

Our many thanks to Macfarlanes for kindly hosting the event and for all their support in the run-up to the event.

You can read Lord Hodge’s speech from the evening in full here.

Discover more about taking on pro bono work with Advocate and working with Pro Bono Connect.

Check out the guide to pro bono work for pupils and supervisors, which explains how pupils can gain experience of pro bono work via Advocate and beyond.