RLC at Pro Bono Conference
15th May 2010
On 14 May 2010 RLC Principal Solicitor, Jon Kiddie, and RLC Volunteers, Joe Bryce & Briony Cullin, attended Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini’s conference on pro bono legal services, held at Victoria Quay in Edinburgh.
Generally speaking, the event was well attended, and in particular a number of law centres were specifically represented.
Speakers took the stand to put the case for pro bono work from the perspectives of several different kinds of legal services providers, e.g. large commercial law firms (McGrigors, Pinsent Masons), small firms (Ian Smart, Law Society President, spoke of his own experience as a sole principal), the Faculty of Advocates, and government solicitors. Govan Law Centre’s Mike Dailly spoke about law centres, while Professor Donald Nicholson spoke about law clinics. SCVS and CAS also made representations.
From a law centre perspective, what soon became apparent was that, although pro bono may have a place in the delivery of legal services in Scotland, it could never replace law centres.
It is laudable that private practice is willing to take part in pro bono, and it is important that they be supported in this endeavour. For example, one of the commercial firms contributed to the legal arrangements for the Live 8 Concert. Certain government lawyers are given leave from their workplace to take part in pro bono work (although, perhaps significantly it seems there are not allowed to use their employers’ resources).
However, the authorities should never assume that pro bono can do anything but wash the sides of otherwise unmet legal need in this country. Pro bono cannot meet otherwise unmet legal need in its entirety, far from it. That said, it does seem there is emerging some nascent acknowledgment of our ongoing need for more structured delivery of legal services for individuals falling on the rocky ground between legal aid and private practice. For example, Ian Smart applauded the valuable legal research undertaken by law centres, which he acknowledged goes unpaid by legal aid. Moreover, he expressed his belief that Scotland should have more law centres, the provision of which was described as patchy. However, there was also a sentiment that the requisite funding for law centre expansion would not be forthcoming during the foreseeable future of public spending cuts.
What SALC needs to guard against is pro bono having its name taken in vain by those who, seeking to justify such cuts, would point to it as serving functions that, in truth, only law centres can see through to their end. And what we need to do, in my opinion, is to seize on this blind yearning for structure and to give it direction and form.