Pro-bono gripes

Recently, I urgently needed evidence about the availability of anti-retroviral drug therapy in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

I am representing a refugee who in the past gave much of his time, free of charge, to campaign for human rights in his country of origin.I posted a request for help to an e-mail newsgroup for African doctors, which is run free of charge by Swiss volunteers.

My message was picked up by a journalist in Senegal, who contacted another journalist in Congo.

The Congolese journalist spent the day driving around Kinshasa's hospitals, obtaining the necessary details.

He and a doctor in the city met to write a report and sent it to London.

Finally, the Senegalese journalist e-mailed to say that if a London translator intended to charge for an English version of the report, he would be happy to produce one free of charge.

All of this work was done by individuals whose living and working conditions are far below those of even the most hard-pressed English lawyer.

The Kinshasa work was done in a city with poor and costly communications, where all journeys involve a risk of violence.

No one involved asked for any payment, not even to cover expenses.My primary reaction is one of gratitude to all those who helped.

However, I wonder what their reaction would be to a suggestion that they set up a pro-bono conference, an awards ceremony or support group to celebrate their achievements.

Why can't lawyers just get on with whatever pro-bono work they want to do, without wasting so much time and effort talking about it? Paul Ward, solicitor, Brighton, Sussex