Pro Bono Week
Pro Bono Week 2023
Pro Bono Week 2023 took place from 6 to 10 November, with events focusing on:
- changing lives through pro bono
- maximising the impact of pro bono
- pro bono within environmental, social and governance (ESG), from climate to sustainable development
Find out more on the Pro Bono Week website
For the latest updates, follow #ProBonoWeek on Twitter and LinkedIn.
How to support Pro Bono Week
It’s easy to get involved.
- Plan your own event
- Celebrate your pro bono successes and raise awareness
- Find out about volunteering opportunities
- Sign up to respond to major incidents with pro bono legal advice via the Legal Pro Bono Platform
Hosting an event
Planning an event during Pro Bono Week is a great way to launch a new initiative or spotlight your programme, partners and the impact of your lawyers’ pro bono work.
Consider hosting a pro bono fair or lunchtime drop-in, encouraging new volunteers to sign up for pro bono projects.
Share your event on the calendar (even if it’s a closed event), by contacting the Pro Bono Week team.
Email: info@probonoweek.org.uk
Celebrating your pro bono work
The week offers a unique opportunity to celebrate the deep and longstanding commitment of the legal profession across the UK in giving free legal help to those in need.
If you’re already doing pro bono, you can:
- share stories of people or organisations your lawyers/members have helped, via your website or social media (use hashtags #WeDoProBono or #ProBonoWeek, or the “I Do Pro Bono” poster)
- conduct a survey on pro bono work and publish the results during Pro Bono Week
- launch a new initiative in your firm
New to pro bono work?
Pro bono is vital to making sure that everyone has access to justice, but it's also a key tool in professional development and wellbeing for lawyers, as well as playing a role in staff recruitment and retention.
If your organisation is not yet engaged with pro bono, Pro Bono Week is the perfect time to announce your pro bono programme.
- Partner up: contact your local advice centre or university clinics to see if you can supply volunteer lawyers to their sessions
- Survey your employees to find out what pro bono work they're doing, publish the results and use this to launch a programme
- Join the Pro Bono Connect scheme, bringing firms and chambers together to work on pro bono cases
- Firms: consider signing our Pro Bono Charter, showing your organisation’s commitment to improving access to justice
Find out how you can volunteer for pro bono work
More about Pro Bono Week
Pro Bono Week was first held in 2001. It’s endorsed by the Law Society, the Bar Council and the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEx), who assist the pro bono sector by:
- publishing a guide to pro bono support (PDF 8 MB)
- raising awareness of initiatives and areas of concern
- organising events and giving support during Pro Bono Week
Resources and updates are available on the Pro Bono Week website, where you can also find plenty of event ideas and tips.
Looking for legal advice?
The Law Society does not provide legal advice. If you're looking for help getting pro bono support, our page for the public lists some organisations that can help.