Valuing Legal Volunteers

Grant: £31,500
November 14, 2018

This project aims to:

1. Increase the number of Unit panel members taking at least one pro bono case yearly by 10%; increasing the number of LIPs we help.
2. Increase barristers’ understanding of the value of pro bono and awareness of the difference they can make to ordinary people’s lives.
3. Inspire the 75 students volunteering each year as Casework Volunteers to be advocates of pro bono work throughout their future career
4. Ensure Unit panel members and reviewers who stop volunteering continue to educate others and champion access to justice.

Digitally futureproofing the Bar Pro Bono Unit

Grant: £70,200
June 21, 2017

The project aims to ensure that the Unit is at the forefront of using technology to support Litigants in person with legal problems.

This is the second stage of two to use of information technology to provide an easy to use guided application process for applicants and referrers and to link volunteer barristers more quickly and effectively with applicants with the overall objective of ensuring that unit operates as efficiently as possible with its resources.

It will create

• a clear, informative and accessible website and online application service.
• Improve website pathways for people with disabilities, including visual, hearing, cognitive and motor impairments)
• Implementing a Salesforce tool, Marketing Cloud, to regularly send case summaries seeking assistance with volunteer barristers, based on urgency, appropriate area of law, circuit and year of call
• Integrating and automating the online application service and volunteer portal with the database the Unit uses to manage cases; Salesforce.