Pro bono work must not clash with government brief

As the home to some 1,400 lawyers, whose skill-sets span every imaginable practice area, the Government Legal Service is a virtual treasure trove when it comes to providing candidates for pro bono work.Last October, in an effort to harness the combined capability of the service, and to offer support and co-ordination to the activities of lawyers who wish to carry out work outside of their daily remit, the GLS pro bono network was founded.Steered by a committee of lawyers working across government departments, the network is chaired by Ministry of Defence solicitor John Evans with Harsha Shewaram, a barrister with the Office of Fair Trading, the vice-chairman.

It has 75 members across 19 departments.'Government lawyers have always done pro bono work, but off their own bat and often unrecognised,' says Ms Shewaram.

'A group of interested lawyers from a variety of government departments established the GLS Pro Bono Network after the Attorney-General and senior members of the GLS expressed an interest in, and support for, government lawyers doing pro bono work.'The informal network aims to provide a supportive environment in which government lawyers can carry on or begin to do pro bono work.'The network has formed links with a number of voluntary organisations, and typically it is the UK's vast network of advice centres which benefit most from the pro bono services of government lawyers, many of whom participate in regular sessions to provide advice on issues such as housing, neighbour disputes, benefits, immigration, personal injury and consumer matters.However, Ms Shewaram says that while there is a huge amount of interest in pro bono work within the GLS, there are real issues which need to be addressed to maximise this potential.

Unlike their private sector counterparts, government lawyers are working for the taxpayer and are therefore unable to provide free services during office hours.

Furthermore, they are not covered by professional indemnity insurance.But it is the issue of potential conflicts of interest which has been the greatest dissuader in the past.

In many cases, particularly among the recipients of advice centre assistance, a government department is involved in potential or ongoing proceedings, ruling out of advising lawyers from that department.

Nonetheless, the network believes careful assessment of individual situations, and support and advice from senior members of the GLS, can make the problem a manageable one.'This is a difficult area, but we start from the perspective that there is nothing about being a government lawyer per se that stops you from doing pro bono work,' says Ms Shewaram.'Therefore, the starting point of our guidance on this is to try to avoid doing pro bono work in an area which relates directly to the field in which you advise as a government lawyer.

That is one way of not putting yourself in a situation where conflicts or problems are likely to arise.'In addition, a major aspect of the network's work - which further avoids the conflicts problem - comes through the more indirect assistance it provides.

As a pro bono service, members of the network provide training lectures in their areas of expertise to non-GLS lawyers who are working in, or about to start working in, advice centres.

The training is designed to give seminar attendees a basic understanding of the legal subject matter, but does not aim to provide an insight into the workings of government.'Whether government lawyers are volunteering in advice centres or providing training lectures for those doing so, they are doing this as experienced lawyers with particular areas of expertise - they are not providing some sort of "insider view" into government departments,' Ms Shewaram says.So far the network has carried out training in conjunction with LawWorks, a partnership between the Solicitors Pro Bono Group and the Law Centres Federation, covering subject matter relating to consumer law, disability discrimination, human rights, and benefits.There is also the issue about whether pro bono work helps a GLS lawyer's career.

While careful not to make any direct link, the Attorney-General, Lord Williams of Mostyn, has said that, if government lawyers had pro bono work on their CV, it 'would be looked upon favourably'.It is Ms Shewaram's contention that by contributing pro bono services through provision of training, lawyers not only circumvent the conflicts issue, but also have the opportunity to further develop their professional skills.'Pro bono work gives government lawyers the chance to develop their professional and personal skills and I think everybody benefits - those providing pro bono assistance and those receiving it,' she says.Nicole Maley