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The answer proposed by Raymond McLennan is that we should all be forced to carry out pro bono work. But what is the question? Raymond suggests that our competition in the future will not be Tesco but will be the likes of charitable bodies such as the Salvation Army and others. He says that to compete with this, we should act now. Raymond has, also, told me of his view that, to retain clients, the profession needs to innovate and market itself. I’m not writing here, merely, to counter Raymond’s argument about pro bono work. Raymond is right about some things. We do need to market ourselves. We do need to innovate. I shall return to this later. The definition of “pro bono” is “done for the public good without compensation”, and words that I would associate with this are “charitable”, “generous”, “kindly”, “open-palmed” – all words relating to the giving of something out of an internal desire to do good. I think a lot of us do pro bono work. I certainly do. I have done myriads of free 15-minute diagnostic interviews. Although my wife would doubt it, I must have some of this “cognitive surplus”. In addition, I publicise the good work that my staff and I do for charity. As a result, the message has come over that I am, after all, human, that I care, that I am approachable and I am not a toff. The point, however, is that I do it because I want to do it. If I am forced www.lawscotjobs.co.uk Bruce de Wert Bruce de Wert is a solicitor with more than 25 years’ experience. Apart from his traditional practice at Georgesons, Wick and Thurso, he is also the owner of www.scotwills.co.uk and his most recent innovation, www.myscottish divorce.co.uk to do it, it is no longer “pro bono” and the pleasure will come out of it. As I have said to Raymond, his proposal is both repugnant and immoral. To be forced to do something for nothing is slavery: “the subjection of a person to another person, especially in being forced into work”. To force those in our employ to do pro bono work would be to be complicit in slavery. Can we presume that, being pro bono, no payment would be expected by our employees? If that were not bad enough, I glean from our correspondence that the anticipation is that, with this pro bono work, we will change the public perception of solicitors. It won’t. In fact, it would have a negative impact on the public regard for the profession. He is inviting the Government to force us to do something – thereby implying that we don’t do it already. Raymond has his finger on the button here, though. There is a real problem with the public perception of solicitors. It can be stated as “all solicitors are rogues... except mine”. Why is this? It is a marketing issue. It’s because we don’t get our act together and drip feed the public with all the good news stories that exist. I do it, but Raymond has a point – it needs to be done collectively. In my view, the profession, through the Law Society, should employ someone permanently dedicated to this task of changing perceptions as to who we are and what we do. It will take some time, but I have no doubt whatsoever that we would be successful. The other point raised by Raymond is that of innovation. We certainly need to innovate. Doing things the way we have always done it, just because we’ve always done it that way, will not cut the mustard in the future. Raymond does not think Tesco would be our competitors. I think that they (and others like them) will. They do not think the way we do. They probably will not produce a better product, but they will innovate and they will, very definitely, market their products much better than we do. On his blog, Raymond quotes Sam Walton, Founder of Wal-Mart, owners of Asda: “There is only one boss: the customer. And he can fire everybody in the company from the chairman on down simply by spending his money somewhere else.” I couldn’t agree more. We certainly need to innovate. Doing things the way we have always done it, just because we’ve always done it that way, will not cut the mustard in the future July 2010 theJournal / 11
Feature Pro bono For the common good Pro bono legal work is now well established in many firms and organisations, but many feel that better co-ordination would result in more effective delivery. Peter Nicholson reports on a recent conference hosted by Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini QC, which aimed to point the way forward think there is huge potential and I think any vision might be quite “Ijust limiting”. Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini QC was responding to my question – what was her vision for pro bono in Scotland? We were meeting at the conclusion of a conference in May, organised and hosted by her department and held in the Scottish Government offices, on the future of pro bono legal services in Scotland. The sellout event covered the perspectives of the providers and beneficiaries of pro bono help, asked how it could be done better, and highlighted some of the initiatives now under way. “The fact that it was heavily oversubscribed was itself a manifestation of the huge potential out there”, Angiolini commented. “Not only is there lots of pro bono work taking place quietly round the country, there is also clearly an enthusiasm and a real interest about how we can pursue it further and how we can galvanise the skills which are out there in a way which is as productive as possible.” Without any hint of compulsion about the concept, the range of speakers taking part demonstrated that there are openings for all. Large and small firms, in-house lawyers, law centres, and the Faculty of Advocates were all represented, and of course the Strathclyde student law clinic, now only one of a number of student-run initiatives. Cheap substitute? Even so, there remains among some parts of the profession an acknowledged suspicion of, if not resistance to, the whole idea. Perhaps not surprisingly, the charge is that we are simply looking for cheap alternatives to an overstretched and underfunded legal aid system. Are pro bono providers not in competition with those seeking to earn an honest crust in ordinary high street legal practices? Absolutely not, the Lord Advocate insists. “This is in no sense a substitute for a properly funded system of legal aid. But there will always be cases and situations which are not covered by the legal aid system, where legal assistance is needed.” Similarly, in her opening address she made the point: “Access to justice must be affordable. Legal aid can never hope to meet all needs.” Whether because of financial cutoff points, or the nature of the advice required, pro bono work had a longstanding function reflecting the ethos of the profession and supporting the rule of law. Angiolini herself can speak from 12 / theJournal July 2010 www.journalonline.co.uk
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Page 7 and 8: Letters Should we resist ARTL dikta
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Page 23 and 24: Feature Family law Split decision F
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