Pro Bono

Members of the Association of Costs Lawyers play a crucial role in the legal profession, not only in ensuring clients’ costs are properly assessed and recovered, but also in supporting those who cannot afford legal services. Volunteering for pro bono cases can make a significant impact.

What You Can Offer to Pro Bono Cases

ACL members bring specialist knowledge, particularly in costs management, drafting schedules of costs, and navigating complex cost issues in litigation. In pro bono cases, where clients may have limited resources, this expertise is invaluable. General solicitors may struggle with these time-consuming tasks without the in-depth knowledge that costs experts bring. Having a costs specialist on a pro bono team ensures that these issues are handled efficiently, allowing the team to focus on the other legal matters.

By volunteering your time and expertise, you can make a real difference in providing access to justice and ensuring that vulnerable individuals and organisations receive the best possible legal assistance.

Pro Bono Expert Support Scheme

ACL members can contribute to pro bono cases through the Pro Bono Expert Support Scheme (PBES). Delivered by The National Pro Bono Centre and Pro Bono Connect, PBES connects pro bono lawyers with specialist services at no cost.

PBES has two branches:

• General scheme: connecting pro bono lawyers with experts in costs, forensic accounting, strategic communications, interpreters, and more, including support for cost dispute resolution.
• Pro Bono Costs Orders branch: assisting pro bono lawyers in drafting schedules of costs and Pro Bono Costs Orders (PBCOs).

Costs lawyers or firms can join the general scheme and/or the costs branch.

Examples of costs cases dealt with through costs specialists through PBES include:

• Advising on challenging a costs order: helping a pro bono client determine whether to challenge a costs order against them after a case.
• Cost consequences in complex disputes: offering guidance on the cost implications in multi-party disputes following negligent legal advice.
• Representation in high-stakes cases: representing a pro bono client who lost their case at the High Court and was at risk of paying costs.

Through PBES, costs lawyers can help draft PBCOs, recovering costs while generating funding for the Access to Justice Foundation, increasing access to justice for those in need.

You can find out more about the Foundation’s most recent Pro Bono Grants Programme, which is funded largely through income from PBCOs and supports 10 organisations across the UK to increase access to justice through pro bono provision, on their website.

Why Join PBES?

• Flexibility: no minimum commitment; simply review requests as they come in.
• Impact: play a vital role in improving access to justice and funding legal support for vulnerable communities.
• Support growth: PBES is a developing scheme with growing demand for services like costs advice, translation, and expert opinions.

Where to Start

If you’re a costs lawyer and would like to join PBES or learn more about how you can support pro bono efforts, please visit www.nationalprobonocentre.org.uk/project/pro-bono-expert-support/ or email pbexpertsupport@nationalprobonocentre.org.uk for more details.