Advocates hold event to coordinate pro bono provision

Pro bono legal services providers have been invited to an event that aims to clarify how best to address the legal need that is not met by public or other funding.

The invitation comes from the Faculty of Advocates' Free Legal Services Unit ("FLSU"), which plans to examine the current need for pro bono legal services, and whether and how those services are presently being met.

Its aim is to build on discussions held during Pro Bono Week in November 2022, so that individuals' unmet legal need is better understood and the FLSU can help achieve greater access to justice. 

The event takes place on the afternoon of Friday 2 June in Faculty's Mackenzie Building, High Street, Edinburgh. Those attending are asked to provide information before the event on the nature of their organisation, where they operate, the types of advice they offer, whether their services are criteria-based and what those criteria are, and whether they need pro bono advice, representation, or other support.

Writing in the Scotsman today, FLSU convener Neil Mackenzie spoke of a "patchwork quilt" of pro bono provision in Scotland, commenting: "The various discussions during and after [the 2022] event highlighted the FLSU’s impression that there are areas in which the patchwork quilt has gaps, overlaps, and friction.

"Attempts to identify these gaps, overlaps, and friction to establish how best to address them are hampered not just by a lack of data, but also by the fact that there are currently few, if any, ways for pro bono organisations to work together to coordinate how they provide their services."