Making pro bono pay

Solicitors wishing to work on a pro bono basis are sometimes seen by law centres as more of a hindrance than a help, it emerged at the Law Centres Federation (LCF) annual conference last week.

Speaking at a session entitled 'Making pro bono pay', representatives from law centres across the country said that some solicitors who volunteered at law centres were untrained, unmotivated and merely doing the work for the good of their CV.

Some also claimed that City solicitors did not know enough about the relevant areas of law to be useful in law centres.

However, Julian Clark, a litigation assistant at City giant Clifford Chance and a volunteer at Hackney and Tooting law centres in London, said the basic skills involved in law centre work were the same as those in corporate work.

'Law centres get the benefit of our expensive City training for free,' he said.

'From a City solicitor's point of view, working in a law centre makes you a better lawyer and gives you better interview and client skills.'

LCF chairman Bob Nightingale urged law centres to consider going into partnership with City law firms.

'Big firms have money, power and influence at their disposal,' he said.

'With a little training, their lawyers can become very useful in a law centre.'

Victoria MacCallum