Advocate, the Bar and pro bono

The word ‘polycrisis’ was the term du jour at Davos 2023, used to describe the spate of global problems that our society has endured in recent years. Advocate, the Bar’s pro bono charity, deals with the real-world consequences of these problems and their impact on people’s daily lives. We match volunteer barristers with people who need legal assistance across the full range of practice areas and in every type of court, from the Employment Tribunal to the Supreme Court. We have caseworkers in many different parts of the country, with the objective of being a truly national charity. The legal assistance provided can be flexible to meet the circumstances; anything between a short phone call with counsel to full representation in court.

As the pro bono interface between the Bar and the public, Advocate is frequently asked to find solutions to new problems that emerge from the ills suffered by modern society. It had to deal at an early stage with cases arising from the financial crisis, austerity, the pandemic and the cost of living crisis. In order to meet these challenges, Advocate has learnt to adapt to meet society’s needs. Nevertheless, it is extremely challenging to operate in such dynamic environment.

For my part, I have been involved in Advocate’s work for more than 15 years; I have sat on the board for over a decade and have recently been appointed as Chair. I have seen first hand the Bar’s response to the many domestic challenges and world events that our society has faced over that period. In my view, the Bar should be immensely proud of its contribution to pro bono. I continue to be amazed and inspired by the pro bono lawyers that I encounter, their commitment to achieving justice for their clients and their willingness to give up their time for free. The candidates for Advocate’s Bar Pro Bono Awards (with the award winners currently serialised in Counsel magazine) are an illustration of the enormous contribution made by the independent and employed Bar, and associated staff and clerks, to pro bono. The level of dedication is remarkable with lawyers giving up time with family, hobbies or paid work to act on pro bono matters.

The Bar has a long tradition of pro bono. The celebrated case of Somerset v Stewart (1772) is a reminder of this. Mr Somerset was a slave who was being held on a ship in the Thames, bound for Jamaica. His friends, encouraged by the great abolitionist Granville Sharpe, made an application under the writ of habeas corpus to the King’s Bench to determine whether Mr Somerset could be lawfully detained. The case developed into a battle between the pro-slavery sugar plantation owners and the abolitionists. Both sides had heavy legal teams. On the pro-slavery side, Mr Stewart, who claimed to have a property right over Mr Somerset, was represented by attorneys backed by the sugar industry. Mr Somerset in turn had a legal team of five, including a young lawyer, Francis Hargrave, acting pro bono in what was his first case. Somerset’s more senior counsel had fared poorly at the first hearing of the matter in the face of arguments about the economic fallout if the abolitionists won. The case was adjourned to a second hearing where Francis Hargrave was given a chance to make submissions. It was his standout performance which is said to have won the case. Some months later, Lord Mansfield delivered his judgment, finding that there was no basis to hold Mr Somerset and that he be permitted to go free. In the face of the arguments about the economic consequences of his judgment, he said ‘let justice be done, though the heavens may fall’. The case propelled Hargrave’s legal career; he took silk shortly after and became a celebrated jurist and parliamentary lawyer. His portrait was painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds and he became Treasurer of Lincoln’s Inn.

The factors which likely motivated Francis Hargrave to act pro bono in Somerset’s case – a desire to make our society a better place and an opportunity to be involved in an important case – remain sound reasons to do pro bono now just as they did then. Although my own pro bono cases have been far less profound for our society than Somerset’s case they have still led to positive life-changing outcomes for the people involved; a home saved, jobs retained, damages received or bankruptcy averted. It does not always require full court representation to achieve these outcomes; the right advice at the right time can have far reaching effects. Even the simple act of a barrister giving up their time for free to listen and help someone who has lost all hope can have a significant impact; the power of kindness is not to be underestimated.

Pro bono also offers career enhancement opportunities. Barristers should not be embarrassed by taking into account, in deciding to do pro bono work, the personal and professional advantages that it may confer. Pro bono work provides a wonderful opportunity to practise advocacy, to work on novel legal issues and to appear in testing court environments and cases. It can provide important evidence of the competencies required for applications for judicial appointments or silk.

Despite these strong arguments for doing more pro bono, I recognise that we are being called on to help at a time when significant parts of the Bar are also under real financial pressure. It is a big ask for a barrister to give up their time for free when they are already struggling to make ends meet. Some parts of the Bar may feel that the nature of their paid work and the low rates charged mean that they are already delivering a public service. These are valid concerns and are well understood by Advocate.

Nonetheless, the impact of these continuing crises on access to justice are challenges that we, as a profession, must meet. Of course, pro bono is not and never could be a substitute for a properly publicly funded system of legal aid, but it still performs a crucial role in ensuring that the wheels of justice turn. We are fortunate as a profession to have the strong support from all of the major institutions of the Bar; the Bar Council, the Bar Standards Board, BMIF and the Inns of Court.

I often reflect on the Bar Council’s motto ‘justice for all’ which sits prominently in its logo. Looking at the huge numbers of individuals who approach us each week for help, it sometimes feels that access to justice for all is a distant ideal. But the position was far bleaker for Mr Somerset before his hearing in 1772 and yet his lawyers were not discouraged by the scale of the challenge. Nor can we be. We must work together to find new ways of helping those in need.

Advocate continues to look at new methods of harnessing the talents of the Bar to deliver pro bono assistance in innovative and creative ways, often in collaboration with other organisations. Volunteering for cases is an important part of our work but there are opportunities for barristers to support us in many other ways too; as reviewers, on our duty schemes, through education, in our committees, on our new projects and also financially. As can be seen from Somerset’s case, justice can be done if parties have access to the courts. I’m hugely grateful for the role that the Bar plays in seeking to achieve that.