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27 June 2025 / Bea Rossetto
Issue: 8122 / Categories: Features , Pro Bono , Charities , Profession , Career focus
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Turning the page on pro bono

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It’s time for a new story on pro bono, says Bea Rossetto: one that grounds it as a vital public service delivering justice for all

We hear it all the time—‘pro bono work has never been more vital’. This is true. But it has also never been more vulnerable to misrepresentation.

From Trump’s recent attacks on pro bono lawyers assisting migrants at the US border to the targeting of immigration solicitors and legal advice centres during the 2024 UK riots, it is clear that the toxic narrative surrounding the justice system is not just rhetoric—it is fuelling real-world hostility and undermining the principle of equal justice.

That’s why the Law Society’s new Reframing Justice toolkit, developed with FrameWorks UK, is a timely resource. At the National Pro Bono Centre, we believe this strategy isn’t just for public affairs teams at law firms. It offers powerful guidance for everyone in the pro bono sector—particularly those of us trying to grow lawyer involvement, build public understanding, and secure

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Secondments, disciplinary procedures and appeal chaos all feature in a quartet of recent rulings. Writing in NLJ this week, Ian Smith, barrister and emeritus professor of employment law at UEA, examines how established principles are being tested in modern disputes
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The AI revolution is no longer a distant murmur—it’s at the client’s desk. Writing in NLJ this week, Peter Ambrose, CEO of The Partnership and Legalito, warns that the ‘AI chickens’ have ‘come home to roost’, transforming not just legal practice but the lawyer–client relationship itself
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A High Court ruling involving the Longleat estate has exposed the fault line between modern family building and historic trust drafting. Writing in NLJ this week, Charlotte Coyle, director and family law expert at Freeths, examines Cator v Thynn [2026] EWHC 209 (Ch), where trustees sought approval to modernise trusts that retain pre-1970 definitions of ‘child’, ‘grandchild’ and ‘issue’
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