This month saw the celebration of the first ever National Pro Bono week in the legal calendar. For most lawyers in business, it seems, the event passed them by.

While two out of five in-house legal departments in the US do pro bono work according to recent figures released by CorporateProBonoOrg (Legal Director, May), efforts to mobilise in-house pro bono work in the UK appear to have been met with a more than a degree of apathy.

Just over a year ago in April 2001, the Solicitors' Pro Bono Group (SPBG) hailed a change of mood as four new in-house departments signed up to the group. In-house teams at Citibank, Schroder Salomon Smith Barney, Asda and Lloyds TSB pledged their support to a new initiative – LawWorks in the Community. They joined BAE, Zurich financial services and Ford Credit.

One year on, while three new teams have joined up, according to the official figures four of last year's members appear to have dropped out.

So why has in-house pro bono work failed to take a hold on this side of the Atlantic?

First and foremost, the membership figures are misleading, says Terence Black, managing director of BAE Capital and a trustee of the SPBG.

"The membership figures are not necessarily a good indicator of in-house support. A lot of the companies that are signed up to and support the SPBG have given significant money through charitable donations," he says. "While the breadth of the support is relatively narrow – the depth and quality of the support is exceptionally strong."

Notably Lloyds TSB, which does not appear on the membership list this year, has made a donation of £60,000 to LawWorks in the Community over a three-year period and Schroder Salomon Smith Barney/Citibank have made a donation of £5,000 last year and £3,000 this year.

Black also points to the fact that, until four years ago when BAE became one of the first in-house teams to launch a pro bono project, in-house pro bono activity was virtually non-existent. He argues that in a short space of time those behind in-house pro bono activity have achieved a lot.

Black acknowledges, however, that the number of in-house departments involved in pro bono work is still relatively low. For him it is a question of getting the right message across – it makes business sense as well as ethical sense.

"In-house lawyers need to consider the triple bottom line," he says. "Then they will see that through pro bono legal services they can contribute not just to their company's financial bottom line, but also to its social bottom line."

There is no doubt that the 'triple bottom line' corporate concept is catching on in the wider business community as an increasing number of companies make the link between profitability and best ethical and environmental practice.

In a recent green paper on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the European Commission promoted a European framework where companies voluntarily take on board social and environmental concerns besides their economic ones. The argument is that all three elements dovetail to create a more profitable and productive business.

But while this concept is increasingly espoused in boardrooms across the UK, it is only just finding its feet in the in-house legal departments.

This comes in stark contrast to the position in the US where the American Bar Association officially recognises that all lawyers have a professional ethical obligation to provide a certain amount of pro bono services annually.

The CorporateProBonoOrg survey in the US revealed that the two-thirds of US legal departments that undertook pro bono work handle an average of 25 pro bono cases annually. Ninety per cent of those projects involve the active support of the company's chief legal officer and 83% of lawyers get permission to do pro bono work on company time.

Of course, with no legal aid system to speak of, pro bono has had to fill the gap. In the UK, legal aid has been available to those who are eligible (albeit fewer and fewer); for those who are not, pro bono assistance has attempted to fill the gap in a piecemeal and unstructured way.

During the past few years a growing number of City firms have taken up the pro bono cause, not least because they see the marketing potential of doing so. But despite a concerted effort by the SPBG to bring in-house lawyers on board, there has been relatively little take-up.

"It has been easier to win the hearts and minds of solicitors in law firms than it has employed solicitors," acknowledges Sue Bucknall, chief executive of the SPBG. "In-house pro bono has been slow to take on, but we are removing as many hurdles as possible and are eager to grow it."

The hurdles to which Bucknall refers come in the form of Practice Rule 4, which says that employed lawyers can only act for their employer and not for third parties; and the problem of getting professional indemnity insurance.

But excuses are running out for the UK's in-house lawyers to continue to lag behind their private practice peers and US counterparts.

Last year the Law Society agreed to waive Rule 4 for a block period of three years to enable in-house teams to do pro bono work in appropriate circumstances. And in April, Chancery Lane gave the initial go-ahead for the relaxation of Rule 4 across the board.

On the insurance side, since January the SPBG has been able to make insurance arrangements for any in-house legal team that joins up as a member and takes on an SPBG-approved pro bono project.

And this year, the SPBG reduced the in-house membership fee to £250 per legal department, with a view to encouraging in-house lawyers. The fee for a City firm can be as much as £3,000.

While the heart is willing – few, if asked, would say that they had not considered doing some pro bono work – it could be that it has simply been too difficult for lawyers working in business to find the right project and see it through.

Typically in-house lawyers, confined as they are to advising the business on corporate issues, have had little contact with individuals or organisations that may need the sort of advice they are qualified to give.

In January the SPBG attempted to tackle this problem through the LawWorks in the Community initiative, a programme which specifically focuses on matching corporate lawyers with appropriate pro bono projects.

On signing up to LawWorks, the in-house member gets its own project manager to tackle waiver and insurance issues and finds the lawyers an appropriate project in a pro bono match.

"LawWorks in the Community works a bit like a dating agency," says the SPBG's Bucknall. "If the initial project works well then a relationship will develop and the two groups may be able to work together again. Geographical location is relevant and usually in-house departments want to do time-limited, transactional projects and avoid litigation."

Vodafone's legal team is the first (and, so far, only) in-house department to sign up to LawWorks in the Community. Matchmaking is currently underway for a compatible community group and project in the Newbury area.

"The Vodafone legal department signed up to the SPBG as part of its expression of 'passion for the world around us', which is one of the company's four visions and values," says principal solicitor Sarah Godwin.

"We joined LawWorks in the Community because we thought it would be the best way of matching our 40 lawyers and wide-ranging skill set to the right project. We have got our waiver from the Law Society so now we are just waiting for the match."

Another reason for the lack of commitment from in-house teams is that law departments in the UK are more resource-constrained than those in the US, where corporates typically have huge in-house legal functions, and possess only a fraction of the fee earning manpower of law firms. With fewer lawyers it is more difficult for legal teams to dedicate the time and resources to pro bono activity.

One way of addressing this is by in-house teams partnering with their external legal advisers for the common good of a project. "Partnering provides additional comfort on a project and has the added bonus of strengthening the ties between in-house departments and law firms," says BAE's Black, which has partnered with its law firms on pro bono projects.

Clients can also use their muscle power to persuade their external advisers to do pro bono work. Black is a keen advocate of this. Four years ago BAE famously became the first in-house team to say that it wanted its external firms to demonstrate a commitment to pro bono.

"Although BAE does not make partnering a precondition of being a law firm on its panel," explains Black, "it does take an interest in what pro bono work a firm does. As a buyer of legal services, I personally feel that an active pro bono practice demonstrates a strong professional ethic in a law firm."

When an in-house department has millions of pounds worth of legal work up for grabs each year, law firms will sit up and listen.

So now that many of the hurdles to in-house pro bono have fallen, what is the forecast for its future?

"The challenge now is to raise awareness because many in-house lawyers still do not realise that pro bono work is something they can get involved in," says Black. "The current economic climate is not particularly relevant, it is more a question of ensuring that in-house lawyers know pro bono work is not something to be afraid of and that they will not be making a commitment they cannot fulfil."

Paul Gilbert, the Law Society representative for in-house lawyers and a member of the SPBG board of trustees, agrees that the final battle will be fought on the marketing front.

"It is wrong to over-egg in-house participation in pro bono work and pretend that hundreds of lawyers up and down the country are doing it," Gilbert says. "But the interest is there and it will not take much to spark it. Things are on a slow burn, but in-house lawyers are coming around to it in their own time and it is important to keep the channels open."

Although the SPBG's in-house members may only number six at the moment, there are other ways of spreading the pro bono word.

A number of large departments are carrying out pro bono activity without signing up to the SPBG.

Cable & Wireless is a case in point. Dan Fitz, head of legal at Cable & Wireless, is on the LawWorks board, but the group does not appear as a member. Nevertheless it dedicates a considerable amount of time to pro bono work.

The Government Legal Service Pro Bono Network (see sidebar, page 22) is unable to directly participate in pro bono programmes due to insurance constraints, so instead it provides training and support to external programmes.

So the wheels are in motion and the aim is for momentum to be generated right across the legal industry as pro bono activity in one-section of the profession feeds off another.

"What we want is a pincer movement with pressure from all sectors working on each other," says Bucknall. "Pressure from in-house departments to panel law firms is significant and then there is pressure coming from students who are eager to fulfil pro bono commitments and want to go to a law firm or company that has a pro bono agenda."

This, then, is the future vision for the success of pro bono in the UK: a combination of legal teams voluntarily working together towards the triple bottom line. In-house lawyers have an extremely important role to play.

"I do not want to make pro bono compulsory because then it will be begrudged," Bucknall says. "We will get high quality pro bono work only if it is something that solicitors want to do out of a sense of duty and because it is to their benefit. The result will be a triple bottom line."

BAE Systems
Terence Black – managing director, BAE Systems

Since 1998 BAE's legal department has provided pro bono legal advice to local charity the Welwyn Hatfield CVS on its furniture scheme, which collects, repairs and recycles furniture for needy families in the area.

BAE became involved in the Hatfield project through Linklaters. The two reached an agreement that, in the event of BAE becoming overloaded or the project needing specialist knowledge which BAE could not provide, Linklaters would help out.

First up, the BAE pro bono team advised on the preparation of a lottery bid for the furniture scheme and helped further develop the scheme prior to submission of the bid.

Although the lottery bid has completed, the pro bono relationship continues. BAE allows the CVS to use its offices for meetings on a free-of-charge basis and provides it with copying assistance for its regular newsletter. BAE also designed a website for the furniture scheme and regularly passes on surplus office furniture for recycling to local charities.

As a result of its pro bono assistance on the furniture scheme, the BAE legal team was approached by residents of Woolmer Green to advise them on breaking away from the parish of Welwyn and the formation of their own parish. BAE is undertaking the scheme, this time in partnership with Clifford Chance.

ASDA

Denise Jagger – group company secretary, ASDA

Spreading the pro bono word around the country is something Denise Jagger, group company secretary and general counsel at Asda, has turned her attention to.

Late last year northern-based law firms and in-house teams were invited to attend a conference at Asda House in Leeds, where the community and business benefits of pro bono work were extolled.

"I am being a catalyst for raising pro bono awareness, which is currently far more concentrated in the south of the country," Jagger says.

"By gathering together northern-based industry players and advertising the benefits of doing pro bono work, it is a start to co-ordinating things better in the north. It shows that getting involved in pro bono work is certainly not a completely altruistic experience. It is highly motivational for lawyers, develops their management and interpersonal skills and aids recruitment and retention of staff."

Ford Credit
Throughout 2001, and continuing into 2002, Ford Credit's in-house legal team has combined forces with the Prince's Trust in Essex to provide pro bono legal advice to young businesses funded by the trust.

Half-day seminars run a legal awareness programme that includes an interactive case study specifically designed to highlight key legal issues, which the trust businesses typically face. The programme also includes a business planning session, which is run by Ford Credit's risk management team.

City firm Lovells partners Ford Credit on the programme and provided the initial contacts to develop the programme's format. A local pro bono panel of Essex lawyers has also been established, which complements the programme by providing the trust businesses with further access to free legal advice after completion of the seminars.

Government Legal Service Pro Bono network

Government lawyers working in the community

The Government Legal Service (GLS) Pro Bono Network was launched in October 2000 to offer encouragement to members of the GLS who are interested in doing pro bono work and to offer support to those who are doing it already. The GLS comprises around 1,350 qualified lawyers employed in 30 government departments, agencies and other organisations.

Insurance issues mean the GLS Pro Bono Network is not able to run its own programmes.

Instead, it supports external pro bono programmes by facilitating the placement of its members with voluntary and charitable organisations; providing appropriate training to members and other voluntary organisations.

Through the LawWorks lecture programme, GLS lawyers have given lectures at a number of City firms on Consumer Law, the Human Rights Act 1998, the Disability Discrimination Act, and on Social Security Benefits. The GLS Pro Bono Network also arranged a series of lectures as part of an in-house training programme.

Six-step guide to establishing an in-house pro bono programme

Step one: Establish the commitment

Make sure there is a commitment to pro bono among lawyers within the department and that the company itself supports a level of community involvement. You will not be able to establish and maintain a successful programme without internal volunteers and management support.

Step two: Join the Solicitors' Pro Bono Group

Membership of the SPBG will not only outwardly demonstrate your company's support for pro bono in a more formal sense, it will also facilitate establishment of, and add credibility to, your own programme.

Step three: Find a worthy recipient of your pro bono services

Important factors are geographical location and the type of legal services you can offer. If your legal department possesses basic legal skills in commercial and general business, then there is little point getting involved in social security law or domestic violence cases. Signing up to a LawWorks in the Community programme can help match your legal department to the right partner and project.

Step four: Partner with one of your external law firms

This can be an excellent way of (i) finding a suitable project – especially if the firm already has an active pro bono practice; and (ii) getting around any weakness in your own resources, either in area of practice or allocation of time and people to the project. The SPBG can help identify law firms already active in pro bono work. Consider asking your external law firms to commit to doing pro bono work – it really does help to build a common culture and better working relationships.

Step five: Get a Law Society waiver

As employed solicitors you cannot provide legal services to someone other than your employer unless you have a waiver of the relevant sections of the Practice Rules from The Law Society. (The Law Society has now agreed to a waiver of Rule 4 for pro bono.) Another hurdle to overcome is that of insurance. Many large companies do carry some form of indemnity policy and this can be adequate, although you should expect to involve your insurance advisers in some of these discussions. (Since January 2002, insurance arrangements can be made through the SPBG).

Step six: Reap the rewards

Once the waiver is received from the Law Society, it's time to get to work. This will require some thought as to how to accommodate the pro bono activities within the legal department's workload. However, pro bono is rewarding not only for the beneficiaries of the programme, but also for the individuals doing it and the companies encouraging it. The individual benefits from experience outside the normal routine and a sense of genuine achievement in helping others. The legal department will benefit from an improved image both internally within the company and externally. Relationships with partner law firms will be based on shared values and experiences that go beyond the normal encounters of day-to-day.

Taken from BAE Systems' Six-step Guide.

Legal Director poll

Lack of time and resources is the main reason why in-house departments are not engaging in pro bono activity according to a snapshot survey by Legal Director. The e-mail survey questioned heads of legal at FTSE 100 corporates and financial institutions about their attitudes to pro bono work.

Of those who responded, none of the in-house legal departments are currently involved in formalised pro bono activity. But half of those questioned said that they would be interested in principle and while there is no formal activity in place, 60% said that the group legal function does encourage individual lawyers to get involved in some charitable work.

When asked why they did not do pro bono work, lack of time and resources was cited by 70% of the in-house departments questioned. And lack of information about pro bono projects followed close behind, being identified by 50% of the heads of legal. Other reasons given included the view that it was an individual matter for the lawyers involved and obstacles perceived to be in place including obtaining a waiver from the Law Society and setting up professional indemnity insurance.

One FTSE 100 head of legal also identified a misconceived concern that lawyers would not get "credit" for taking on the work. The snapshot survey also reveals that in-house lawyers do not in general link choice of external law legal advisers with pro bono activity. Only one of the respondents said that it asks its law firms about pro bono activity.

But while heads of legal are not making it a requirement, a number said that they are aware of law firms' pro bono record and 30% of the respondents said that pro bono should have some bearing on the law firms it uses. One respondent said that pro bono makes external lawyers more rounded and grounded while another said that while pro bono work should probably not have a bearing on law firms used "it would be nice to know that some of the fees you pay to law firms is indirectly put to better use".