Solicitors frequently do work for free in the public interest.

But they do not see why they should act for needy individuals who would be on legal aid if the government had not slashed the levels of eligibility.At the Labour party conference earlier this month, opposition leader Tony Blair put forward new plans to encourage lawyers to do more pro bono work for those who cannot get legal aid or afford proper advice.'The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) service already has a proud track record of voluntary service by small legal aid firms up and down the country,' said Mr Blair.

'This scheme is aimed at encouraging others, including large commercial firms, to make a contribution to the community.'However, the head of litigation at 22-partner Birmingham firm Shakespeares, John Buckingham, said: 'Solicitors are known for all sorts of charitable efforts and I think it is considerable cheek on the part of any political party to suggest we should do more.

Our firm does all sorts of pro bono work but we support community projects, not private individuals.

Any government should be making sure that the rates of the legal aid fund are in good order, not telling lawyers what they should be doing.'It seems solicitors are prepared to work as local community members, but are against being press-ganged into any crusade aimed at reforming society, whether it be 'new Labour, new Britain' or 'back to basics'.Roderick Thurman of 30-partner Cardiff practice Edwards Geldard said that national pride was one of the motivations for the pro bono work done by his firm.

'We do work which is of broad charitable or commercial benefit to the [Welsh] community.

If we do not do it, who will?'Tim Fagg of nine-partner Ashford firm Kingsford Flower & Pain said that he and his colleagues spent their Saturday mornings giving free advice to the public and did pro bono work for local sports clubs because their firm had been involved with the Ashford community for more than 100 years.

However, Mr Fagg also thought firms had to be over a certain size in order to be able to do pro bono work without undermining their financial security.In a recent interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Law Society President Martin Mears disagreed with Labour's legal affairs spokesman Paul Boateng over whether big City firms should be encouraged to give free advice.

Mr Mears argued that City firms were 'not geared up' to give pro bono advice to 'ordinary people living in the suburbs of London'.

This week, the President told the Gazette: 'When Mr Boateng suggested that City lawyers do pro bono work he was making a political attack on fat cats.

Since the programme I have bee n told that individual partners in some City firms do pro bono work; this was news to me.

But if a big City firm says it is doing a certain amount of pro bono work this has far less value for ordinary people than pro bono work by high street practices which are geared up for everyday problems.'Caroline Bassett, litigation partner at City firm Frere Cholmeley Bischoff, disagrees.

'It is not my impression that ordinary clients would experience a clash of cultures if they went to the City,' she said.

'We do not just take one type of client.'Ms Bassett's firm is one of seven City giants which form the pro bono panel of Liberty, the human rights organisation.

Liberty refers cases to the panel which involve issues of public importance or are test cases.

Recently, Frere Cholmeley has handled a libel action for Liberty and acted for a client who had his visa withdrawn.

Last year, Richards Butler advised in the marathon 'McLibel' trial in submissions to the Court of Appeal.

And Allen & Overy is currently acting for two football supporters who were deported from Belgium.

In the past, the firm has taken on cases for Liberty including a malicious prosecution action against the police.One way in which some 44 solicitors firms across the country provide local pro bono work is through Business in the Community.

This is a charity which brings professional firms of all types -- accountants, architects, surveyors, solicitors -- together to work for free on community projects.City firm Dibb Lupton Broomhead has recently attracted media attention of the most favourable kind by acting pro bono for the Knight Williams Investors Action Group.But, despite public interest, clashes over what kind of pro bono work should be provided, by which lawyers and to whom continue.

Part of the problem is that the term pro bono is ill defined.Labour's Mr Boateng has been asked by Mr Blair to open discussions with the Law Society and the Bar Council on setting up a special unit to co-ordinate and encourage voluntary work by lawyers, which they say will be for the benefit of the community.Mr Boateng says that lawyers or law firms should volunteer to spend a certain number of days working in law centres or CABx.

Some big City firms might, he said, contribute a cash equivalent instead or sponsor a full-time worker.Bar Council Chairman Peter Goldsmith responded positively to Labour's proposals, announcing at the solicitors' annual conference that before the end of the year the council would launch a new pro bono initiative.

This would co-ordinate the Bar's existing pro bono work and make it more holistic.

Mr Goldsmith also proposed a pro bono awards scheme and said that he personally would fulfil the Labour leader's target of three days' free work a year.The Law Society is already well on the way to getting its own pro bono scheme up and running by the end of 1996.

Together with consumer groups, CABx and advice agencies, the Society is seeking funding for a Solicitors Representation Unit (SRU).

SRU would be independent of the Law Society and would run along similar lines to the Free Representation Unit, which puts Bar School students in touch with clients who need an advocate to plead for them at a tribunal hearing.'SRU would work as a brokerage unit, matching solicitors with clients and making sure that training was available,' said the Law Society's legal services manager Karen MacKay.

'And it would only take cases from agencies, not private individuals.'The establishment of SRU was proposed by a Law Society pro bono working party which reported in Ma y 1994.

It also recommended the establishment of a trust fund which would receive contributions from firms to support pro bono work.And a group of barristers will be asking solicitors to join them in a duty lawyer scheme which provides free advice and representation at the Employment Appeal Tribunal when it is relaunched in January.

More details in a future Gazette.