UK Collaborative Plan for Pro Bono

Published on 25 July 2024 The UK Collaborative Plan for Pro Bono (‘UKCP’) is a profession-led initiative for law firms in the UK.

The UK Collaborative Plan for Pro Bono (‘UKCP’) is a profession-led initiative for law firms in the UK. Each of the >80 participating law firms has a strong institutional commitment to pro bono and access to justice. Participating law firms collaborate with each other in order to improve access to justice through pro bono in the UK. Participating law firms work collaboratively to develop the systems and infrastructure to allow pro bono services to be effectively delivered to address unmet legal need.

The UKCP also incorporates an aspirational target of 25 pro bono hours on average per lawyer in the UK each year. Aggregated data is released publicly on an annual basis through our infographic, and more detailed data is shared privately within the group in a de-identified way (with thanks to TrustLaw for administering the data sharing). You can track our progress below under the heading ‘Our impact’. The definition of pro bono used in the UKCP is the same as that used by TrustLaw in its global TrustLaw Index of Pro Bono, which can be found here.

Our members have offices across the UK including: Aberdeen, Basingstoke, Belfast, Birmingham, Bristol, Cambridge, Chelmsford, Cheltenham, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Guildford, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Milton Keynes, Newcastle, Oxford, Reading, Sheffield, Southamption, Taunton and Watford.

For further information, select from the following headings to jump to the relevant section of this website.

Our impact
FAQs
Professional development
Our know how
List of member firms
Looking for free legal advice?

1. Our impact

In addition to our quarterly meetings, our other activities include collaborative pro bono projects with several firms co-ordinating on specific issues. For more information about our collective impact, see our latest infographic and case studies.

Statistics from previous years

Year released	Firms responding	Total CP hours	Total lawyers	Average pb hours per lawyer	Range of average pb hours per lawyer
2015	25	215,591	9,820	22.0	2-79
2016	36	283,525	12,373	22.9	3-78
2017	36	326,751	13,171	24.8	3-109
2018	45	343,996	13,966	24.6	1-66
2019	45	362,082	17,486	20.7	1-83
2020	45	391,834	17,423	22.5	1-98
2021	59	514,857	25,614	20.0	1-93
2022	63	516,351	28,627	18.0	0-94
2023	74	576,330	34,117	16.9	0.4-100
2024	78	609,869	34,569	17.6	0-95

We are very grateful to TrustLaw for administering our data sharing process.

2. FAQs

What are the benefits of membership?

Show commitment to pro bono and access to justice, and collaborate for greater impact
Members can attend quarterly UKCP meetings which allow them to access new pro bono opportunities which are developed collaboratively amongst members, to share best practice and to discuss and solve common challenges.
Access benchmark data (shared confidentially, in anonymised format)
Access professional development and learning opportunities (see ‘Professional development’ heading below)
Access useful resources via Intralinks (see ‘Our know how’ section heading below)

What does it cost?

Membership is free

What would my firm need to commit to?

Adopt the “aspirational target” of 25 pro bono hours (average per UK lawyer, per year)
Send someone to quarterly UKCP meetings
Submit data each year on your pro bono practice (new member firms can skip the first year if needed)

What if my firm can’t hit the target?

Don’t worry, our members cover a wide range from 2-100 hours average. Your hours will not be published nor made public, nor even shared with other UKCP members other than in a de-identified format. It may take many years before you reach the target; what you are agreeing to is that you share our vision that lawyers should on average contribute at least 25 pro bono hours per year.

Does my firm need a fulltime pro bono lawyer to join?

One of the aims of the UKCP is to help firms which don’t yet have a dedicated pro bono professional navigate this area. Several firms send a partner or associate from their pro bono committee to UKCP meetings.

Can I observe a meeting before making up my mind?

Firms actively considering membership can ask to sign up as an observer for up to 6 months. This would give you a taste of the kind of emails that are circulated within the group and to attend at least one of our quarterly meetings, before deciding whether to join. Please contact the secretariat (details below) to request observer status.

I’m from an in house legal team – can we join?

You can join the UK In House Pro Bono Working Group

Whom do I contact about joining the UKCP?

To learn more, or to have your firm join as a participant, please contact our secretariat, currently:

What is the secretariat?

The purpose of the UKCP Secretariat is to ensure all administration associated with the UKCP network is carried out; and to coordinate with UKCP committees and UKCP firms and external stakeholders to support day-to-day UKCP network activities. The Secretariat is not a leadership body, management or executive function of the UKCP. The UKCP does not have a leadership or executive body, and members of the Secretariat do not hold themselves out as such.

3. Professional development

Struggling to find professional development opportunities for your role? Joining the UKCP gives pro bono managers the opportunity to develop their practice. We understand the importance of sharing knowledge, experience and expertise and the UKCP facilitates this through a number of initiatives including the following.

UKademy

Each year the UKCP organises UKademy, a professional development conference hosted by one of our member firms. UKademy gives members an opportunity to learn from their peers, as well as contribute to meaningful panel discussions on pro bono management and issues affecting the sector. UKademy is completely free and open to anyone who is responsible for progressing pro bono at their law firm.

UKademy+

Enjoyed UKademy and can’t bear to wait another year for the next one? Then UKademy+ is for you! UKademy+ allows pro bono managers to organise smaller, in depth sessions on issues important to them throughout the year. Anyone can develop a UKademy+ session and use the Collaborative Plan group to see who else is interested, find speakers and promote the event.

Pro Bono Mentoring

Struggling to capture your lawyers’ interest for pro bono work? Trying to draft a pro bono policy? Feel you can’t do it alone? Your fellow Collaborative Plan members are here to help!

The Pro Bono Mentoring scheme will find you a fellow pro bono manager to mentor you in your role, and help you with some of the challenges you might face. You will be paired up with someone who has the experience to give you the support you need, and are free to set your own meetings and agendas. Equally if you looking to help others who may be new to the sector, you can sign up to the scheme as a mentor.

For more information, contact Jane Cotton.

4. Our know how

All UKCP contacts have access to Intralinks, a secure cloud-based platform on which to access notes from previous meetings, guidance materials, our repository of knowledge, UKCP statistics etc.

To access this all you need to do is:

go to the Intralinks login page (https://www.intralinks.com/login)
select “Intralinks Via PRO”
enter your login details – if you don’t have any or have forgotten them, just enter your email address, and then select “Forgot password?”