Our history
We are Advocate, the Bar’s national pro bono charity.
In 1996, we began with a part-time administrator working from a small room in Gray’s Inn. Now, we are the only pro bono charity to provide access to legal assistance in all areas of law, in all courts and tribunals across England and Wales.
We were founded as the Bar Pro Bono Unit by Lord Goldsmith KC, starting with only 350 volunteer barristers. Demand for help meant that our charity quickly grew in strength and number. Lord Goldsmith’s compassion in recognising the need for free legal help for those who could not afford it had started something that would become a lifeline for many. In the first year, we received 250 applications for legal help, a number that would increase to over 5,600 by 2025.
From 1996 to now, we have helped thousands of people achieve the access to justice they deserve. Over the years, we are pleased to have established successful partnerships with charities and professional bodies across the sector to deliver free legal advice and advocacy where it is most needed.
Today, Advocate works with over 5,000 volunteer barristers through a casework team with a physical presence in each circuit across England and Wales.
This is an interactive timeline. Please click each year to expand
and learn more about our journey!
- Advocate celebrates 30 years of championing access to justice
- Advocate marks two years of the Birmingham Chancery Litigant in Person Support Scheme. The Scheme has the support of the Business and Property Court Judges in Birmingham, the Midlands Circuit, the Midland Chancery and Commercial Bar Association and the local Bar
- The Competition Appeal Tribunal and Advocate launch a pilot scheme supporting litigants in person in Tribunal proceedings
- The Pro Bono Recognition List of England & Wales is launched, endorsed by the Lady Chief Justice
- Advocate helps create, and moves to, the Justice Hub, a collaborative working space for legal charities committed to improving the justice system
- To tackle increasing public demand, Advocate recruits 56 senior barristers to join the group of reviewers who assess cases on our behalf
- The Chambers Pro Bono Framework is launched by Advocate, providing a mechanism for sets to strengthen and highlight their pro bono ethos
- Advocate launches the Pupil Pledge to encourage pupil barristers to take on pro bono work from their second six onwards, seeing over 50 pupils pledging in the first year
- Advocate reaches the milestone of a caseworker based on every circuit across England and Wales for the first time
- Advocate recruits their first two caseworkers on circuit, starting with the Northern Circuit
- Advocate celebrates its 25th anniversary and launches Collaborate, a case-based mentoring scheme, and 25 for 25: The Pro Bono Challenge, encouraging barristers to do 25 hours of pro bono
- Advocate partners with Here for Good on their EU Settlement Scheme project to help people apply for status in the UK before the deadline of 30 June 2021
- The Guidance for Applicants for the 2021 QC competition is amended to reflect that pro bono cases can be used
- As the pandemic takes hold, Advocate experiences a 46% rise in requests for help in the first three months of the year
- Advocate partners with DLA Piper and the Bar Human Rights Committee to provide urgent assistance to people trapped in Afghanistan to help them find routes into the UK
- At the start of the pandemic, Advocate transforms its casework service in a matter of days from paper-based to digital to enable staff to work remotely and, crucially, enables the public to continue to access our services
- Advocate sees a 74% increase in barristers joining our panel of volunteers and a record amount of pro bono work being accepted by the Bar
- Pro Bono Connect launches, enabling barristers to work together with solicitors on pro bono cases
- In collaboration with the Chancery Bar Association and RCJ Advice Bureau, Advocate launches the Chancery Bar Litigant in Person Support Scheme (CLIPS), its first ever on-the-day duty scheme
- Chair of the Bar, Michael Todd KC, introduces the campaign to ask barristers to donate to Advocate when renewing their annual Authorisation to Practise certificates
- The government implements the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders (LASPO) Act, introducing restrictions to accessing legal aid funding in England and Wales
- Advocate relocates to the National Pro Bono Centre on Chancery Lane with LawWorks, ILEX Pro Bono and the Access to Justice Foundation
- Section 194 of the Legal Services Act 2007 is introduced, enabling equivalent costs to be recovered in civil cases where the successful party is represented pro bono
- Current UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer wins the Bar Pro Bono Award for his pro bono work
- The Attorney General's Pro Bono Coordinating Committee is set up to support the provision of legal pro bono across England and Wales, with Advocate as a member
- The Pro Bono Protocol is developed by Advocate in partnership with LawWorks, under the auspices of the Attorney General's Pro Bono Committee, setting out how pro bono work should be delivered
- The first National Pro Bono Week takes place
- Advocate sets up a Court of Appeal scheme in partnership with the Royal Courts of Justice CAB
- National Pro Bono Week is born as a collaboration between barristers, solicitors, legal executives and the voluntary sector to recognise and support the pro bono contribution made by the legal profession in the UK
- The number of barristers on Advocate's panel of volunteers exceeds 1,000 (including 170 Silks)
- The Bar Council of England of Wales becomes one of Advocate's key funders
- Advocate's areas of expertise reach 50 areas of law
- The first Bar Pro Bono Award is presented
- Advocate's sister charity, LawWorks, is established under the name of The Solicitors Pro Bono Group
- Advocate, under the name of the Bar Pro Bono Unit, is founded by Lord Goldsmith KC. It begins with a part-time administrator and 350 volunteer barristers
Advocate and the Bar: celebrating 30 years of access to justice
In 2026, we are celebrating our 30th anniversary of matching people in need of legal assistance with specialist barristers who offer their help pro bono. To mark our 30th anniversary, we have published a brochure titled Advocate and the Bar: Celebrating 30 Years of Access to Justice.
This publication celebrates Advocate’s role in upholding the Bar’s commitment to pro bono work, reflects on how we have adapted to recent challenges facing the legal sector, and looks ahead to our future work.
Read the publication here.
