Pro bono and enlightenment

The debate over the value of lawyers engaging in pro bono activities is usually argued from a moral perspective.

Is there an imperative on the legal profession to provide voluntary services to disadvantaged people? Does an increase in pro bono give the government an excuse to cut legal aid eligibility and provision even further?

Those are valid and difficult questions.

But this week it is interesting to see the business element of pro bono addressed.

We report on a leading industrialist's unequivocal view that doing pro bono work makes good business sense.

At least one FTSE 100 managing director says that people in commerce and industry who select external legal advisers are impressed by law firms with a serious pro bono portfolio.

With corporate governance in the spotlight, it provides corporations with a public relations boost to be able to point to their own voluntary work and the pro bono activities of their advisers.

And it can be argued that any motivation to do pro bono work must be valuable and worthwhile.

Others might argue that such commercial and PR motives run contrary to the altruistic principle of pro bono.

But that brings us back to the moral debate, which is always more difficult to resolve.