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My interest in pro bono began in the early 1980s. It stemmed from my experience with the Birmingham Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) where I volunteered both before and after pupillage. I was then offered a paid role and became the only barrister in a small team of lawyers which was headed by a full-time solicitor.
At that time, Birmingham CAB opened its doors five days a week. Many clients visited it daily for legal advice and for referrals to specialist solicitors. CAB was the largest voluntary sector in Europe providing basic free legal advice to people.
I was given free rein to choose the work I wanted from the referrals. So, I spread my wings as wide as possible and represented clients in welfare, housing, mental health, trans surgeries, a full range of employment and discrimination law, immigration, local government, consumer credit law and so on. I started representing clients in tribunals and then extended this to immigration cases in the High Court.
Encouraged to undertake pro bono for other law centres in the West Midlands, I travelled to other CABs to provide assistance and gave talks on the work our team was doing in Birmingham city centre. Looking back, I recognise my steep learning curve to understand the range of problems our clients experienced.
On joining a set of chambers in Birmingham, I continued to do pro bono work for CAB and law centres. Some years ago, I started working with Advocate – a very professional team which is wholly committed to providing an excellent service to the community. The work was mostly in welfare, council tax, pensions and immigration law. Chambers (No5 Birmingham) supported me to represent clients at different tribunals via video link, and clerks and librarians gave me their time to assist. I found the tribunal listing officers to be very helpful and flexible in listing cases around my other commitments.
With the help of Advocate and the Leader of the Midland Circuit, Harpreet Sandhu KC, a group of barristers and I are forming a pro bono committee on Circuit that aims to expand our pro bono reach across chambers in the region. The committee’s aspirations are to have members from every set of chambers on Circuit involved, and to ask each of these chambers to make a commitment to providing pro bono assistance.
Through the clerks, all heads of chambers on Circuit will be invited to encourage their members to take part in pro bono work through signing up to the Chambers Pro Bono Framework. This is an initiative led by Advocate that allows chambers to strengthen and highlight their pro bono ethos and make it possible for everyone, barristers and staff, to make a difference through pro bono.
To join the framework, a set of chambers must commit to four actions within a calendar year:
Chambers will devise their own processes for taking on pro bono and appoint internal representatives to work with Advocate to champion this work. At No5, for example, enquiries from members of the public seeking assistance are sent to the clerks’ teams who then contact members to see if they are able to assist. I am grateful to Chambers for hosting a recent visit of staff members from Advocate who shared their expertise with us and encouraged us to develop our pro bono service. I am also grateful for the help given to us by my clerks and librarians past their hours of duty to develop the pro bono network in Birmingham.
The Bar has considerable expertise and talent to provide significant pro bono assistance to those who need our help. We hope that, in time, every Circuit will work to establish a permanent body of pro bono barristers to help in regions across the country.
Find out more about the Chambers Pro Bono Framework at: tinyurl.com/ms2d3uvz
Social responsibility is central to Doughty Street’s commitment to promote human rights and civil liberties, and an integral feature of our founding ethos. Our barristers work pro bono to achieve access to justice across a spectrum of practice disciplines and jurisdictions. They engage in the widest reaching challenges and human rights initiatives globally, which impact individuals and communities with life-changing consequences.
Our team (Laura Dubinsky KC, Agata Patyna, Alice Irving) prepared for further litigation following their work in the high-profile Rwanda case for the UNHCR, which led to the seminal Supreme Court judgment of November 2023. For the UN Special Procedures, our work included UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons and third-party interventions in the High Court, Court of Appeal and European Court of Human Rights, concerning treatment of victims of trafficking subject to the Rwanda arrangements (Adam Straw KC, Catherine Meredith, Zoe Harper, Mike Spencer). Our work on the Inter American Commission on Human Rights against the USA, tackled state responsibility/ diplomatic immunity issues relating to trafficking of domestic workers (Catherine Meredith, Hannah Smith).
Our work tackling human rights violations in the Rajasthan sandstone industry relates to factors such as a high prevalence of silicosis, child and other forced labour. Working with organisations such as Anti-Slavery International, barrister Krishnendu Mukherjee champions initiatives such as a ‘no-harm bill’ to advance transparency in supply chains for future governmental briefings.
We continue to seek accountability and justice for the killing and disappearance in Libya in April 2011 of photojournalist Anton Hammerl, a long-running case (Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, Max du Plessis SC, Tatyana Eatwell, Catherine Meredith, Rosa Polaschek).
Our multidisciplinary teams work extensively on cases involving the death penalty, crimes against humanity, and justice freedom. For example, we successfully secured the overturning of death penalty with subsequent release of Toomaj Salehi, the Iranian rapper sentenced to death for his music and activism (Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, Jonathan Price KC, Sam Jacobs, Nikila Kaushik).
Professor Nicholas Angelet achieved a historic judgment in the Brussels Court of Appeal, finding that the Belgian State committed crimes against humanity by abducting mixed-race children during the colonial era.
Kate Gibson is working on all fronts for the Rohingya Justice Initiative, a civil society organisation she helped to establish, which supports international accountability efforts against perpetrators of 2016/17 Myanmar attacks.
We continue to pursue justice for victims of the Yazidi genocide and Islamic State War Crimes. Tatyana Eatwell represents four Yazidi women tortured and enslaved by an Australian ISIS member in Syria in their complaint to the Committee against Torture against Australia for its failure to provide them with reparation (expert opinion from Jessie Smith). Tatyana and Aarif Abraham represented four Yazidi survivors of a Turkish airstrike applying against a hospital in Sinjar to the Human Rights Committee.
Max du Plessis SC worked with leading NGO Freedom under Law to ensure an injunction against impeached Judge President Hlophe being appointed to the Judicial Service Commission.
Our pro bono training and advisory work covers all fields. Tatyana Eatwell assisted in WWF’s written statement submitted to the International Court of Justice for the Advisory proceedings on climate change. Peter Carter KC provides extensive training programmes about trials for war crimes and crimes against humanity for the Inns of Court College of Advocacy, Ukrainian lawyers, and FCDO.
We are immensely proud to have won the award for Pro Bono Chambers of the Year. This recognition is an inspiring testament to the ongoing commitment of our members, both individually and collaboratively, to promoting and upholding human rights and civil liberties and support people working to effect positive social change for all, regardless of financial circumstances.
Pro Bono Week is taking place from 3 to 7 November 2025 to celebrate the voluntary contribution made by legal professionals across the UK in providing free legal help to those who need it most. Find out more about the week and the events taking place on the UK Pro Bono Week website: probonoweek.org.uk
The Bar Pro Bono Awards are organised by Advocate – the national pro bono charity of the Bar – to celebrate the remarkable pro bono achievements of the Bar in England and Wales.
Part 1 of this series appeared in the August issue of Counsel and featured Iona Gallagher (Young Pro Bono Barrister of the Year), Edward Fitzgerald KC (Pro Bono KC of the Year), Adam Wagner KC (International Pro Bono Barrister of the Year) and Da’aro Youth Project (Pro Bono and Social Responsibility Initiative of the Year).
Part 2 of this series appeared in the September issue of Counsel and featured Jesse Crozier (Pro Bono Junior of the Year) and Siobhan Samuel (Chambers Pro Bono Professional of the Year).
Read about all the shortlisted nominees here. To find out more about Advocate visit www.weareadvocate.org.uk
My interest in pro bono began in the early 1980s. It stemmed from my experience with the Birmingham Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) where I volunteered both before and after pupillage. I was then offered a paid role and became the only barrister in a small team of lawyers which was headed by a full-time solicitor.
At that time, Birmingham CAB opened its doors five days a week. Many clients visited it daily for legal advice and for referrals to specialist solicitors. CAB was the largest voluntary sector in Europe providing basic free legal advice to people.
I was given free rein to choose the work I wanted from the referrals. So, I spread my wings as wide as possible and represented clients in welfare, housing, mental health, trans surgeries, a full range of employment and discrimination law, immigration, local government, consumer credit law and so on. I started representing clients in tribunals and then extended this to immigration cases in the High Court.
Encouraged to undertake pro bono for other law centres in the West Midlands, I travelled to other CABs to provide assistance and gave talks on the work our team was doing in Birmingham city centre. Looking back, I recognise my steep learning curve to understand the range of problems our clients experienced.
On joining a set of chambers in Birmingham, I continued to do pro bono work for CAB and law centres. Some years ago, I started working with Advocate – a very professional team which is wholly committed to providing an excellent service to the community. The work was mostly in welfare, council tax, pensions and immigration law. Chambers (No5 Birmingham) supported me to represent clients at different tribunals via video link, and clerks and librarians gave me their time to assist. I found the tribunal listing officers to be very helpful and flexible in listing cases around my other commitments.
With the help of Advocate and the Leader of the Midland Circuit, Harpreet Sandhu KC, a group of barristers and I are forming a pro bono committee on Circuit that aims to expand our pro bono reach across chambers in the region. The committee’s aspirations are to have members from every set of chambers on Circuit involved, and to ask each of these chambers to make a commitment to providing pro bono assistance.
Through the clerks, all heads of chambers on Circuit will be invited to encourage their members to take part in pro bono work through signing up to the Chambers Pro Bono Framework. This is an initiative led by Advocate that allows chambers to strengthen and highlight their pro bono ethos and make it possible for everyone, barristers and staff, to make a difference through pro bono.
To join the framework, a set of chambers must commit to four actions within a calendar year:
Chambers will devise their own processes for taking on pro bono and appoint internal representatives to work with Advocate to champion this work. At No5, for example, enquiries from members of the public seeking assistance are sent to the clerks’ teams who then contact members to see if they are able to assist. I am grateful to Chambers for hosting a recent visit of staff members from Advocate who shared their expertise with us and encouraged us to develop our pro bono service. I am also grateful for the help given to us by my clerks and librarians past their hours of duty to develop the pro bono network in Birmingham.
The Bar has considerable expertise and talent to provide significant pro bono assistance to those who need our help. We hope that, in time, every Circuit will work to establish a permanent body of pro bono barristers to help in regions across the country.
Find out more about the Chambers Pro Bono Framework at: tinyurl.com/ms2d3uvz
Social responsibility is central to Doughty Street’s commitment to promote human rights and civil liberties, and an integral feature of our founding ethos. Our barristers work pro bono to achieve access to justice across a spectrum of practice disciplines and jurisdictions. They engage in the widest reaching challenges and human rights initiatives globally, which impact individuals and communities with life-changing consequences.
Our team (Laura Dubinsky KC, Agata Patyna, Alice Irving) prepared for further litigation following their work in the high-profile Rwanda case for the UNHCR, which led to the seminal Supreme Court judgment of November 2023. For the UN Special Procedures, our work included UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking in Persons and third-party interventions in the High Court, Court of Appeal and European Court of Human Rights, concerning treatment of victims of trafficking subject to the Rwanda arrangements (Adam Straw KC, Catherine Meredith, Zoe Harper, Mike Spencer). Our work on the Inter American Commission on Human Rights against the USA, tackled state responsibility/ diplomatic immunity issues relating to trafficking of domestic workers (Catherine Meredith, Hannah Smith).
Our work tackling human rights violations in the Rajasthan sandstone industry relates to factors such as a high prevalence of silicosis, child and other forced labour. Working with organisations such as Anti-Slavery International, barrister Krishnendu Mukherjee champions initiatives such as a ‘no-harm bill’ to advance transparency in supply chains for future governmental briefings.
We continue to seek accountability and justice for the killing and disappearance in Libya in April 2011 of photojournalist Anton Hammerl, a long-running case (Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, Max du Plessis SC, Tatyana Eatwell, Catherine Meredith, Rosa Polaschek).
Our multidisciplinary teams work extensively on cases involving the death penalty, crimes against humanity, and justice freedom. For example, we successfully secured the overturning of death penalty with subsequent release of Toomaj Salehi, the Iranian rapper sentenced to death for his music and activism (Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, Jonathan Price KC, Sam Jacobs, Nikila Kaushik).
Professor Nicholas Angelet achieved a historic judgment in the Brussels Court of Appeal, finding that the Belgian State committed crimes against humanity by abducting mixed-race children during the colonial era.
Kate Gibson is working on all fronts for the Rohingya Justice Initiative, a civil society organisation she helped to establish, which supports international accountability efforts against perpetrators of 2016/17 Myanmar attacks.
We continue to pursue justice for victims of the Yazidi genocide and Islamic State War Crimes. Tatyana Eatwell represents four Yazidi women tortured and enslaved by an Australian ISIS member in Syria in their complaint to the Committee against Torture against Australia for its failure to provide them with reparation (expert opinion from Jessie Smith). Tatyana and Aarif Abraham represented four Yazidi survivors of a Turkish airstrike applying against a hospital in Sinjar to the Human Rights Committee.
Max du Plessis SC worked with leading NGO Freedom under Law to ensure an injunction against impeached Judge President Hlophe being appointed to the Judicial Service Commission.
Our pro bono training and advisory work covers all fields. Tatyana Eatwell assisted in WWF’s written statement submitted to the International Court of Justice for the Advisory proceedings on climate change. Peter Carter KC provides extensive training programmes about trials for war crimes and crimes against humanity for the Inns of Court College of Advocacy, Ukrainian lawyers, and FCDO.
We are immensely proud to have won the award for Pro Bono Chambers of the Year. This recognition is an inspiring testament to the ongoing commitment of our members, both individually and collaboratively, to promoting and upholding human rights and civil liberties and support people working to effect positive social change for all, regardless of financial circumstances.
Pro Bono Week is taking place from 3 to 7 November 2025 to celebrate the voluntary contribution made by legal professionals across the UK in providing free legal help to those who need it most. Find out more about the week and the events taking place on the UK Pro Bono Week website: probonoweek.org.uk
The Bar Pro Bono Awards are organised by Advocate – the national pro bono charity of the Bar – to celebrate the remarkable pro bono achievements of the Bar in England and Wales.
Part 1 of this series appeared in the August issue of Counsel and featured Iona Gallagher (Young Pro Bono Barrister of the Year), Edward Fitzgerald KC (Pro Bono KC of the Year), Adam Wagner KC (International Pro Bono Barrister of the Year) and Da’aro Youth Project (Pro Bono and Social Responsibility Initiative of the Year).
Part 2 of this series appeared in the September issue of Counsel and featured Jesse Crozier (Pro Bono Junior of the Year) and Siobhan Samuel (Chambers Pro Bono Professional of the Year).
Read about all the shortlisted nominees here. To find out more about Advocate visit www.weareadvocate.org.uk
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