structural:scholar_edition
United Kingdom

Since 2003, many UK law firms and law schools have celebrated an annual Pro Bono Week, which encourages solicitors and barristers to offer pro bono services and increases general awareness of pro bono service. LawWorks (the operating name for the Solicitors Pro Bono Group) is a national charity that works with solicitors and law students, encouraging and supporting them in carrying out legal pro bono work. It also acts as a clearing house for pro bono casework. Individuals and community groups may apply to the charity for free legal advice and mediation, where they could not otherwise afford to pay and are not entitled to legal aid. Advocates for International Development, which exclusively brokers international pro bono contributing towards the Sustainable Development Goals, operates from a London base. Many barristers offer pro bono services as a direct response the Legal Aid cuts brought by LASPO 2012, from which they make no profit. The Bar Council has revealed that just under a quarter of the bar offer pro bono; this is 3,486 barristers. Additionally, in 2018, the Bar contributed almost 11,000 hours of pro bono work. In the United Kingdom, a collaboration between local intellectual property organizations called IP Pro Bono offers intellectual property advice and legal support for claimants and defendants in intellectual property disputes.