Pro Bono Coordinators Forum – Allen & Overy
Wednesday 18th January 2006
Attendees
Robert BondFaegre & Benson LLP
Kate VarahLinklaters
Laura ClementsEversheds
Alison GainesSalans
Steven ButtsWragge & Co LLP
Stephanie BidenBates Wells & Braithwaite
FlorenceCampbellFreshfields
Evan BrandonFreshfields
Jane WhittakerMacfarlanes
Rob WilliamsDenton Wilde Sapte
Jo FordClifford Chance
Jo GrantAllen & Overy
Linda OkekeAllen & Overy
Yasmin WaljeeLovells
Tom CasselsBaker & Mackenzie
Julie DickinsMayer Brown Rowe & Maw
Lorna BrazellBird & Bird
Suzie TurnerDechert
Elaine RadfordDLA Piper
Robert GillActing Chief Executive – LawWorks
Lavinia Shaw Brown Project Manager - Lawworks
Anne MonkPA - LawWorks
Robert Gill opened the meeting by thanking the coordinators for attending and Allen & Overy for hosting it.
National Pro Bono Conference
Robert began by clearing up any misunderstanding that may has arisen surrounding the holding of conferences this year and next.
The main conference will be held in 2007 and a smaller “seminar/workshop” could possibly be held in National Pro Bono Week. This would be hosted by a member firm and aimed at partners, coordinators and administrators. It would look at ideas on pro bono more than could be discussed at a Forum and Suzie Turner is getting a group together to work on this. Robert asked that if anyone was interested in joining the group to contact him or Suzie as soon as possible.
The conference in 2007 is a chance to establish pro bono in England and Wales on the international map. The coordinators asked what was its purpose, aim and what did we hope to achieve? Robert said that this was partly for the coordinators to advise on, but gave three pointers:
- To review, celebrate and learn lessons from the first 10 years of Lawworks with in the wider pro bono setting.
- To examine the current state of pro bono in EnglandWales across the board, from its part in CSR to the smallest rural firm, form government to the voluntary sector and from the recipient to the provider.
- To determine trends for the future, disseminate good practise from around the world and finally to build the cohesiveness of the pro bono community so that we act more closely, with better cooperative wisdom and thus, ultimately provide a better and more comprehensive service.
It will be to celebrate the work of pro bono and careful thought must be given to content, speakers, papers, workshops etc.
It is also important that LawWorks are seen as the leading pro bono agency. We would want to bring all the leading advice players to the conference and talk about the pro bono systems in their areas. This would hopefully then allow for all to work together, not different sectors working parallel to each other.
It was made clear that the conference would have to be announced, with the date and theme, in the next few weeks. It was also pointed out that we should avoid March and April as the American conferences take place then.
It was felt that running the programme along the lines of an academic conference would give more satisfaction, with participants able to choose workshops they wanted to attend. It was also felt that if a programme was devised for senior managers/partners, with special invitations etc, then they would be more likely to attend that. We should also try to link up with major corporations as well, with sponsorship, stands, etc.
Robert added that an outside conference organiser would do most of the work, with the hope that they would provide a lot of the work pro bono. A steering group would also have to be set up which would act as a sounding board for ideas etc. The following agreed to be in the group:
- Alison GainesSalans
- Yasmin WaljeeLovells
- Kate Varah (successor)Linklaters
- Stephanie BidenBates Wells Braithwaite
- Linda OkekeAllen & Overy
They would be contacted shortly in order to arrange the first meeting.
LawWorks Summer Ball
A paper was distributed explaining about the ball. There will be a Football World Cup theme with tickets, tables and sponsorship. This was the first opportunity for the coordinators and their firms to get on board by purchasing tickets and sponsoring various items that were listed. It was pointed out that some firms do not give money for sponsorship, but may be able to offer something in-house.
There was general agreement that the theme was a good idea and that perhaps we could also link into charities that have football as a theme. If anyone had any ideas on this, Robert asked them to be emailed to him.
(Please see attached papers for more information)
LawWorks Awards
The application form and notes for the awards were distributed and Lavinia Shaw Brown explained that they were not the same as in previous years. As well as member firms, we were also going to approach clinics, advice agencies, community groups, AG’s Committee, Law Society etc for nominations.
The process would be electronic and the form would be available on the website from February. There were four awards:
- Best Contribution by a Law Firm
- Best contribution by an In-House Team
- Best Contribution by an Individual
- Most Outstanding Contribution to the Work of LawWorks
The judges included Cherie Booth and David Mackie and it was quality as well as quantity that mattered. It was to be legal pro bono work and principally work for LawWorks, although there was also a section on other pro bono work carried out,
There then followed much discussion about the awards, with some firms stating that as they stood they could not nominate anyone. Not all of them take referrals from LawWorks and they run their own pro bono programmes which would therefore not satisfy the criteria.
The work that is done by Lawworks is the nuts and bolts of pro bono and is not always “interesting, worth while, long lasting, merited an award etc”
Robert felt that it was more about the effect that the pro bono work had on the individual or community group helped and that in all the work done last year, there should be some cases/work that did merit the award.
The coordinators felt that it was difficult to pick out an individual lawyer for nomination as they have to be very careful about how they ask their lawyers to do pro bono work on top of the caseloads they already have.
It was felt that if case studies/examples from previous awards were sent to them, it might be help to see what we were looking for.
In the main, they all supported the awards, but the categories made it difficult to nominate. Robert asked the coordinators to email him if they had any other thoughts.
(Please see attached for more information on awards)
LawWorks
Robert explained that as from 1st January SPBG were now operating as LawWorks. All the consultation on the name and livery had been done pro bono and the new website would be up and running in early February.
50th Clinic
There is a new clinic opening in Poplar on 31st January and as it is the 50th LawWorks clinic, a small celebration will be held at the LawWorks office on 23rd February. All are welcome.
Manchester Event
Robert explained that we are holding a major event in Manchester on 10th February. It is hoped from this that we will raise the pro bono profile in the North West region and get more firms and individuals involved. The Attorney General is attending and will speak at the reception. We are also hoping to set up a coordinators group similar to this one in the area.
If anyone was interested in attending, they were asked to talk to Robert.