Advocacy beyond the workplace: Calum Macdonald’s pro bono journey

Calum Macdonald of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), was called to the Bar in 2022. Despite being early on in his career at the Bar, Calum has taken on an impressive number of pro bono cases through Advocate over the last two years, and has set up the FCA’s pro bono group.

Below, Calum shares how he first got involved with Advocate, his most memorable case, and the rewards of taking on pro bono work as an employed barrister.

“The quality and impact of the work offered by Advocate stood out, which is why I took on my first case”.

I have been involved in pro bono work ever since starting out in law. When I helped set up the pro bono group at the FCA, the quality and impact of the work offered by Advocate stood out, which led me to take on my first case. The case was in the Property Tribunal and the other side made a last-minute application on a technical jurisdiction point the day before the hearing. Initially, I was worried I was out of my depth, but the support provided by Advocate and the senior barrister mentor on my case ultimately meant that we were successful in having the application dismissed and succeeding in the claim. Since then, I have been a regular volunteer.

“After a three-year investigation, my client was cleared of any wrongdoing in just 30 minutes”.

The most memorable pro bono case I worked on was when I was instructed on a three-day professional misconduct hearing earlier this year. The case involved a special needs teacher accused of using excessive force against a pupil. On paper, the case against him was very strong. However, key information indicating the pupil had a history of violence and making false allegations had not been produced or disclosed and was only made available after we made various urgent applications. On the second day, after lengthy cross-examination, the Presenting Officer’s two key witnesses accused each other of dishonesty and unprofessional conduct. Their case largely collapsed at that point and after a three-year investigation, my client was cleared of any wrongdoing in just 30 minutes.

As a member of the employed Bar, I’m not in court all the time. Pro bono work is an invaluable way to keep up my advocacy experience and ensure that skills such as witness handling and cross-examination are well practised for when needed. I also take on work in complimentary areas to my career such as professional conduct and public law, which  has broadened my knowledge and benefits my day-to-day work. In addition, I often involve trainees or junior colleagues in pro bono cases, which is a great way of building the experience of my team and providing them with career development opportunities.

The gratitude of the clients who you assist is undoubtedly the most rewarding part of doing pro bono work. I have a lovely collection of thank you letters from people whose lives have been impacted by Advocate’s work. Even on cases where the outcome isn’t favourable, clients are extremely grateful, and you can still take pride in having helped them put their best case forward on what is often one of the most challenging days of their lives.

“My advice to employed barristers: give it a try.”

My advice to any other employed barristers looking to undertake pro bono work would be to give it a try and discover how fulfilling it is. From a practical standpoint, ensure you have a process for checking conflicts (which being exclusively employed by one client, you may not have typically needed). I always sign off emails making clear I am acting pro bono. Beyond that, Advocate offers fantastic support; the commitment of senior barristers and mentors has meant that I’ve been able to get strategic advice and input when I have been appearing in unfamiliar Courts or Tribunals whenever I have needed it, including once at 10pm the night before!

-          Calum Macdonald, barrister at the Financial Conduct Authority.

If you have volunteering days as part of your practice, please consider using them to work with Advocate – find out more about taking on pro bono work with us.

All information in relation to insurance queries and conflict checks can be found in our Guide to Pro Bono for the Employed Bar.

If you are interested in seeking the support of a mentor in your pro bono work, find out more about our Collaborate mentoring scheme.