News In Focus
14 May 2010
Lord Advocate leads pro bono seminar
Pro bono work offers a "huge width of potential" to provide legal services to those who have hitherto been excluded from them, the Lord Advocate said today.
Elish Angiolini QC was giving the keynote address at a conference hosted by her in the Scottish Government offices, entitled "For the Public Good: The Future of Pro Bono Legal Services in Scotland".
Mrs Angiolini told the conference that Scottish lawyers "have a long tradition of working to ensure that people are treated fairly and have their rights respected. The unfortunate reality, however, is that there are many people who cannot afford legal advice when they need it".
She said pro bono work was "not about Dickensian benevolence", but about lawyers going back to basics and doing what many of them came into the law for. Its purpose was not to take the place of legal aid, but legal aid could never hope to meet all needs, whether because of financial cutoffs or the type of work involved.
"Although lawyers often get a bad name, most of us entered the legal profession through a genuine wish to help others", she said. "Lawyers who use their skills and experience in this way find it highly rewarding. By putting aside just a little of their time for pro bono work, they can make a huge difference to the lives of others, and can get great personal satisfaction in return."
Others taking part included Mike Dailly of Govan Law Centre, who called for national co-ordination of services, with a register of needs and of available skills so that finding suitable help was not such a "random process" as at present, and speakers from the Faculty of Advocates, large and small legal practices, and the Government legal service, who spoke of their respective experiences in providing pro bono help.
Third sector organisations were also represented, as was LawWorks, an independent national charity for England & Wales set up to co-ordinate pro bono work, a steering committee for which has now been formed for Scotland. Professor Donald Nicolson of Strathclyde Law Clinic described the benefits to students of being able to give (supervised) advice and help, and the challenges of offering enough places on the clinic for all those interested. More support was needed, he said.
Speaking to the Journal afterwards, Mrs Angiolini said the conference, which had been heavily oversubscribed, had been "an amazing experience", demonstrating the great range of skills already being offered and the potential for the future. While it was not for Government to dictate what happened next, she hoped it could play a facilitative role.
A report of the conference will appear in a forthcomng issue of the Journal.