Large corporate law firms have been attacked by the chairman of the Islington Legal Advice Centre (ILAC) in London for concentrating on high-profile pro bono work and ignoring the need for volunteers at community level.

Warning that a lack of volunteers might force the centre to close one of its two weekly evening sessions, ILAC chairman Michael Tomlinson said a reluctance among young solicitors to participate in small-scale pro bono work was threatening the future of legal advice centres.

He said: 'Every year you hear all about how the big firms in the City are winning prizes for pro bono work.

But where are the young solicitors willing to give up an hour or two on a Thursday night to do something with real people?'

Mr Tomlinson, the senior partner of London firm Blatchfords, added: 'The current no-win, no-fee rules and the small claims criteria have effectively cut many people out of the law, and we are trying to fill that gap.

The Law Society needs to be thinking more about this.'

Mr Tomlinson's comments come in the wake of ILAC's recent annual general meeting, where a resolution was passed regretting the pro bono focus of many corporate firms.

The resolution also expressed concern that the pro bono activities of the Law Society failed to address the need for unmet legal services.

Law Society chief executive Janet Paraskeva said that Mr Tomlinson was wrong to criticise the Society or corporate firms.

She added: 'The sad fact is that unmet need far outstrips the amount of help that can be supplied through pro bono work.'

Sue Bucknall, chief executive of the Solicitors Pro Bono Group (SPBG), said: 'Well over 2,000 lawyers have volunteered to help through our clinics, community groups, Web and mediation schemes, and these are not for high-profile cases but for day-to-day work which the clients require...

We have never experienced any reluctance to get involved whatever the age and experience [of the lawyers].'

Meanwhile, the Law Society Council will this week consider whether to endorse the SPBG's pro bono protocol.

The code stresses that such work should be completed to the same standards as paid work and recommends appropriate supervision of trainees and students.

See Editorial, [2004] Gazette, 26 February, page 14

By Rachel Rothwell