Last week, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Irvine, in toasting the global success of UK law firms at the Law Society's international legal relations reception, patted his well-heeled audience on the back -- they could 'take pride', he said, in the fact that by doing well they were also 'doing good'.He told them: 'The free movement of lawyers is a crucial element, not only in spreading the rule of law and respect for human rights but also in economic development .

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As international lawyers, you can take pride in the fact that you are doing good by doing well.'There is certainly a growing expectation that a profession which has benefited so much from globalisation, generating £1 billion in foreign earnings annually, should be giving something back to the international community through organised pro bono projects.But should these projects be driven by altruism or should they involve an eye for a new market opportunity -- and if they do, is that mix of aid and trade a healthy symbiosis or a conflict of interest?While Roger Ede, the Law Society's international projects group leader, is in no doubt that trade and aid go hand-in-hand, Mark Ellis, executive director of the International Bar Association (IBA), is more cautious.Mr Ellis says there needs to be a 'firewall' in projects providing human rights or technical legal assistance to ensure advice is given 'without any other interests involved'.For Mr Ede, international legal co-operation projects -- funded externally -- are a cost-effective way for the Society to deliver its key objectives of not only promoting human rights, practice rights and access to justice, but also of helping solicitors break into new markets.'The projects we are running in the Middle East, for example, offer a combination of international trade law and commercial law, English legal terminology and common law, as well as international human rights standards for judges, prosecutors and defence lawyers, to help Arab lawyers improve their skill levels -- all of which promotes English firms and provides a better environment for them to practise in those countries.'Jonathan Goldsmith, the Society's director of international until the end of December -- when he becomes Brussels-based secretary-general of the Council of Bar and Law Societies of Europe -- says the projects are vital.He says: 'China is a good example of where aid and trade come together very neatly.

The Chinese government has always said that it would give licences to people to practise in exchange for training their lawyers.

Firms here were very keen to participate in a training programme, knowing it would help them.

But they didn't do it cynically and dump the trainees in a photocopying room somewhere.

They participated wholeheartedly and continue to do so even though all the firms who want licences now have them.' The China lawyers training scheme recently received the wholehearted endorsement from Lord Irvine.Mr Goldsmith adds: 'The unprecedented tragedy of 11 September is also a classic reason why we should continue being involved in these projects.

Our Arab lawyers project is entirely in the Muslim world and we were very honoured that we were able to continue our dialogue with them -- going to Tunisia and Algeria shortly after the US attacks -- at a time when events seem to be polarising us.'It is very important when we are being demonised in each others' eyes -- they are terrorists, we are warmongers -- to come together and see both sides continue to be the same reasonable, civilised human beings as before.'Arabic speaker John McHugo, a partner at London firm Trowers & Hamlin and specialist in public international law, has been part of all the Middle East projects.

He maintains that economic development and free trade help in improving human rights because they imply a rule of law, greater freedom of movement for people and a greater degree of transparency.While it is 'obviously handy' for his firm -- which has five offices in the region -- to develop contacts in other jurisdictions, the value in being part of the support projects lie in their 'mutual learning opportunities', he maintains.

'I don't like the phrase "giving something back".'He says the projects help lawyers in the west learn about the Arab world, at the same time showing Arab lawyers 'how our minds work and that the similarities are much greater than the differences.'At the IBA, Mr Ellis also stresses the importance of international projects and says the association is trying to expand its role in providing long-term technical legal assistance.'I have been speaking to representatives from Pakistan about the possibility of providing assistance on a constitutional drafting programme.

I am very aggressive in seeing where the IBA can provide this sort of help because we can tap into a huge resource through our membership.'However, he adds: 'We do have conflict of interest guidelines because we don't want to be viewed as an organisation which is opening the door for business ventures.

There are pro bono projects involving attorneys dealing with commercial law issues, with cutting-edge issues which affect capital markets, competition, money laundering, which I suspect are more prone to providing benefit to law firms.'If, in the end, these types of projects strengthen the legal market so business can be done more easily across borders, then he says he is 'very supportive of that'.But he adds: 'I have always felt that on the human rights side and technical legal assistance side, there needs to be a firewall in making certain that the type of advice given is done without any other interest involved.

We want to be fair and objective and do what's best for the particular country, not what's best for the individual or their firm.'Inevitably, many international projects take lawyers to some of the world's most troubled areas.

Current projects include one in Zimbabwe, where the IBA has been active in publicising threats to the rule of law, and now helping the national law society provide continuing legal education for its members.

Mr Ellis says: 'I am really interested in making certain the IBA provides long-term follow-up and assistance on projects like this, particularly in Zimbabwe where the law society is one of the few independent voices left.'Other IBA projects include helping train judges, prosecutors and defence attorneys in the former Yugoslavia to handle domestic war crime trials.It has also been asked to go to Rwanda and help build up the judiciary.

'I am also going to Swaziland and Angola in January to look at running similar programmes to the one in Zimbabwe,' Mr Ellis says.And while there may be fears of recession, both Mr Ellis and Mr Goldsmith argue that the climate for raising funds is getting easier.Mr Ellis, who spent ten years running the Central and East European Law Initiative for the American Bar Association, has recently returned from a trip to the US to talk to foundations about supporting new projects.

'So far, touch wood, we have not had problems raising funds.'Mr Goldsmith adds: 'Now we are known to the European Commission and are more sophisticated in our project applications, it is easier to get funding.

We usually go, for right or for wrong, to the EC for our large projects.'But the British government is also trying to bring together people who run these schemes.

There is a climate now where it is seen that the promotion of international human rights, the promotion of common law, are good things.'Funding is not always so easy for local law societies wanting to run their own pro bono projects.

Eversheds partner Lucy Winskell is past president of the Newcastle Law Society, which last year ran a mentoring scheme for eight Kenyan lawyers.

They hope to keep the momentum going by bringing another one or two lawyers to the UK but finding funding is not easy.However, she is in no doubt about the benefits of the scheme.

'To be blunt, it made us feel good,' Ms Winskell says.

'Our return visit to Kenya was a real eye opener -- I have never experienced issues like that and it was a good feeling giving something back.'The success of the scheme also encouraged Huddersfield solicitors, with the help of the Law Society, to offer Ugandan law students the chance to visit the UK for a closer look at the English legal system.So international pro bono is not limited to the big City firms, and is spreading its influence throughout the UK.CURRENT LAW SOCIETY PROJECTS INCLUDE:-- Middle East -- Euro 2.1 million from European Commission to run the programme for the support of Arab lawyers in eight Arab/Mediterranean countries -- first phase in Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria completed in October;-- Nigeria -- two-and-a-half-year project funded with Euro 300,000 from the EC, training local trainers in human rights and arranging UK placements in legal aid practices;-- China -- ten-year joint project with the Bar and funded with £330,000 from Lord Chancellor's Department, to train 15 Chinese lawyers in the UK a year in commercial and civil law, litigation and court procedure and legal practice management.

This succeeds an earlier project which saw 170 Chinese lawyers trained in UK firms over the last 11 years;-- Uganda -- two-and-a-half-year legal aid project starting in the new year, funded with Euro 800,000 from the EC.