PRO-BONO

Overview

Pro bono is a phrase derived from Latin meaning "for the good". The complete phrase is pro bono publico, "for the public good." It is used to designate legal or other professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment, as a public service. In some cases pro bono counsel may assist an individual or group on a legal case, in filing government applications or petitions or on appeal. Pro bono is an ideal way for lawyers to give something back to the community.

Becoming involved in Pro bono will allow you to work in close partnership and assist in providing measures to those that are in the unfortunate position; unable to access proper justice. This may include becoming actively involved with the ‘Oxford Institute of Legal Practice’ www.oxilp.ac.uk whom oversee most of the opportunities that are available for undergraduate students, amongst other organizations in the Oxford area such as STAX. The aim is to assist poor and disadvantaged members of society in receiving the proper legal aid they require and need.

Pro bono will involve commitment but can provide you with excellent legal skills and some valuable experience for your CV. Those who receive positions with the ‘Citizens Advice Bureau’ (CAB) and complete the training programme will be able to use that experience to shorten a training contract by six months (and, perhaps, to obtain that contract in the first place). Apart from CAB, pro bono works with Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID), Human Rights Teaching Project, the Terrence Higgins Trust, the Youth Offending Team, the Oxfordshire Short-Term Advocacy Scheme (OSTAS) and Advocacy at Age Concern. New Schemes are being introduced all the time, including an opportunity to be a mini-pupil for a leading Criminal Barrister whilst they work on a Pro bono matter.

The Oxilp Scheme

The Oxilp Pro Bono Scheme was set up in 2001-2002 by two students, Brid Jordan and Kate Borrowdale, with the aim of harnessing their fellow students’ skills for the benefit of the community. In the year of its inception, it won the National Pro Bono prize.

The two co-ordinators of the Pro Bono Initiative set up links with three charities – Citizens’ Advice Bureau, Oxfordshire Money Advice Project and Bail for Immigration Detainees. Since then the project has been expanded to reflect both the increase in interest amongst the student body and the wishes of the students to get involved in other local charities.


The organisations involved this year:


Human Rights Teaching Project

This scheme involes student volunteers travelling to local schools in groups to teach Sixth Form pupils elements of Human Rights Law. The sessions are designed to be interactive and interesting and form part of the Citizenship programme or General Studies curriculum.

You do not have to be an expert on Human Rights to get involved in this project and all teaching materials are provided. This project therefore requires volunteers who are enthusiatic and approachable and have an interest in Human Rights.

Time commitment- usually a morning/afternoon and dependent on the number of schools who get involved and when they are available

Training- there is no formal training but there will be a short session on the materials in the teaching pack 

Bail for Immigration Detainees

Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID) is a severely under-staffed charity. The organisation works on getting bail for asylum seekers who are being detained pending the result of their applications. In particular, BID:
∑ prepares and presents bail applications;
∑ provides training on bail and detention;
∑ works to improve the bail process so that people can live freely while their claim to stay in the UK is being processed;
∑ publishes research and information about detention.
As a student volunteer, you may be required to validate the reasons for the detention of an individual, to speak to the Home Office Representative and to the detainee, or to work on preparing the bail application. BID organises training sessions for interested students. Students are required to give a commitment of one morning or afternoon per week.

BID offers a great opportunity for those particularly interested in becoming legal aid lawyers. There are 2-3 places available with BID for volunteers and preference will be given to those who have foreign language skills.

Internal Jamaica Council for Human Rights

The Internal Jamaica Council for Human Rights (IJCHR) have asked the student volunteers on the OXILP Pro Bono Scheme to help out with the work they do. Primarily, students are required to draft headnotes for a backlog of judgments from Jamaica. Guidance notes are provided to interested students, who can put in as much or as little time as they can contribute. The project provides a unique opportunity to students to utilise and improve their drafting and writing skills.  It is anticipated that 20-25 volunteers are needed for this project.

The Guyana Research Project – Research for Pro-Natura UK

Pro-Natura is a non-governmental organisation, created in Brazil in 1986, that specialises in sustainable development. Pro-Natura work in partnership with public entities, private initiatives, and organised civil society. They have worked in Brazil, Nigeria, and more recently in Guyana

The organisation seeks to work with local communities, educating and training them in a way that allows them to use the land to create a better standard of living for themselves, but that doesn’t cause damage to the land.

Pro-Natura UK are keen to benefit from the knowledge and skills that LPC students can offer and equally the work that we do for them will in turn benefit you – you can do some really interesting and valuable work in the knowledge that you’re assisting a great cause, but at the same time you will gain really valuable research experience, helping you both on the LPC and in your training contract.

What training is involved? None – a lawyer will oversee the work that we do, background documents will be provided.

What is the level of commitment that is required per week? It does not need to be in any one week. You will be given specific issues to research that you can go away and look at in your own time, individually or with others.

What kind of work/involvement will the students be expected to do? Research

Are there any particular skills etc that are needed to partake? An interest in human rights, land law or environmental law.

Amicus

Amicus is a London-based charity that was set up in memory of Andrew Lee Jones, the last person to die in ‘Old Sparky’, Louisiana’s electric chair, in July 1991. The charity provides legal and humanitarian assistance to US capital defense attorneys and other organisations. In addition to training interns and sending them to work in the States, Amicus also provides practical support from the UK, through its casework programme. One area where OXILP student volunteers have been able to get involved with Amicus is in the summarising of trial transcripts. When American attorneys wish to appeal the outcome of a trial, they need to know everything that happened in the initial trial in order to pinpoint areas of appeal. To do this, they must go through the entire trial transcript, which can often run into hundreds of pages. To free up the attorney’s time for investigation, Amicus has often taken on the task of summarising the transcript. Casework volunteers will receive a section of transcript, to be summarised at a ratio of approximately 10 pages down to one page. Once completed, individual contributions are checked, edited and amended if necessary, before being compiled and returned to the US attorney. To work on trial transcripts, you must be able to commit to a specified number of hours per week, for a specified number of weeks. No previous experience of US law is necessary for this project.

Other possible projects :

Oxfordshire Youth Offending Team

The Oxfordshire Youth Offending Team (YOT) has had a big impact in the Oxford area, offering mentor support to young offenders. While there are places available for this project there are potential problems as regards training. Students who are particularily interested in this project should contact the project co-ordinator but expect some delay. It is possible this project will not run this year.

Free Representation Unit

The Free Representation Unit (FRU) is a London-based charity which provides representation to those members of the public who don't have the funds to pay for legal representation.  FRU acts in cases which are referred to the organisation by their referral agencies, primarily involving disputes before employment and social security tribunals. As a FRU Rep you will be responsible for the entire conduct of the case: interviewing the client, taking instructions from the client, liasing with the other side, negotiating settlements, drafting witness statements and other submissions, and representing your client at tribunal. FRU Reps are backed up by two full-time caseworkers who are on hand to oversee cases and are available to give advice and guidance whenever it is needed. For FRU Reps to become accredited to represent clients in cases before tribunals, it is first necessary to undergo a rigorous induction procedure. This ordinarily consists of a training course, observation of a case being conducted, and the satisfactory completion of several written opinions. There is the opportunity to become either a social security or employment representative.  This is an incredible opportunity for those willing to give the required level of commitment.

In order to begin training it is necessary to attend an induction session at their offices in London.  The next induction days are:
Social Security – 14th October
Employment – 28th October
Further information is available at www.freerepresentationunit.org.uk

Innocence project:

Innocence Network UK aims to raise public awareness of wrongful convictions and facilitate research on the causes of these convictions. In conjunction with solicitors, students investigate individual cases in pursuit of grounds for possible appeal and/or an application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). The benefits of the project include:
∑ 'Lawyering' skills: dealing with clients, acting like a professional and dealing with other professionals, communication skills (written and oral).
∑ Critical thinking and analysis: problem solving, creative/lateral thinking, collaboration.
∑ Case management: record keeping/time management, organisation and prioritising, dealing with interruptions and unscheduled work.
∑ Fact-finding: use of a variety of resources, use of different disciplines outside of law, application of law to the facts.
This project is being set up at OXILP this year and should start in November.


For further information about pro-bono or how to get involved in any of the opportunities above, please contact Mary, our Pro bono officer.

Useful Links for those interested in Pro bono:

•    www.oxilp.ac.uk
•    www.citizensadvice.org.uk
•    www.probonogroup.org.uk
•    www.lawsociety.org.uk/influencinglaw/internationallaw/probonowork.law
•    www.probono.net