Lord Goldsmith unveils pro bono drive to co-ordinate work across the country

A pro bono committee which aims to develop a national strategy in the delivery of free legal advice was launched this week by the Attorney-General.The national co-ordinating pro bono committee was established by Lord Goldsmith QC, who will act as chairman, in order to champion and structure pro bono work within the legal profession.Its aim will be to co-ordinate the numerous pro bono groups operating in the UK, and to share their knowledge and various experiences.The committee, which will meet quarterly, comprises the Attorney-General, the Solicitor-General Harriet Harman QC, representatives from the main pro bono groups, legal advice agencies, the Law Society and the Bar Council.Michael Napier, the immediate past president of the Law Society and the senior partner of Irwin Mitchell, will act as the committee's pro bono envoy, and he will embark on national 'fact-finding' trips to learn about different pro bono activities across the country and their possible overlaps with other projects.He said: 'There is a tendency for people to think that pro bono work is centred around a few big City firms, whereas there is in fact a tremendous amount of pro bono work going on outside London.'Hailing from Yorkshire and as senior partner of a firm with offices around the country, Mr Napier's role will be to promote and draw together pro bono activities outside the capital.The impetus for the national committee came from a seminar hosted by the Attorney-General and Solicitor-General in December on developing a national strategy for delivering a pro bono system.'At the seminar, it became clear that there were many pro bono projects across the country which needed to be pulled together, and which could benefit from sharing knowledge with each other,' said Mr Napier.The committee's first meeting will be on 13 May.See pro bono survey, page 29Victoria MacCallum