Initial Set Up Costs

Grant: £5,900
October 1, 2013

Fully funded by LEF, this new charity was set up in 2013 by trainee lawyers David Dowling and Oliver Hyams. Their mixed experiences volunteering led them to identify the need for a structured training programme that provides Law Centres and other advice agencies with volunteer law students, trainees and qualified lawyers who possess the knowledge and skills to help meet the demand for pro bono advice.

The pilot training course saw 29 students receiving certificates and completing volunteering assignments with a variety of Law Centres and advice agencies. Pro Bono Community is now offering the course to law firms, barristers’ chambers, law schools and universities. The scheme will become self-supporting by charging the organisations to put groups of up to 30 students through the training programme and helping to place them with advice agencies. The course concludes with a formal assessment, which students are required to pass in order to receive their Pro Bono Training Certificate. It intends to create different versions of its training programme focusing on employment, housing, debt and family law in the near future.