How PILA Promotes Pro Bono

Pro Bono Pledge Ireland is the first collaborative effort in Ireland to articulate the shared professional responsibility of lawyers to promote access to justice and provide pro bono legal assistance to those in need. The Pledge sets out the core values of such work to assist both those who undertake it and their clients. 

The Pledge was developed by an independent grouping of law firms, barristers, and in-house legal teams with a presence in the Republic of Ireland who have come together to affirm their commitment to delivering pro bono services in Ireland. The Pledge is coordinated by PILA (the Public Law Alliance, a project of FLAC). 

Launched on 26 November 2020, the Pledge provides a common definition of pro bono, a commitment to a minimum aspirational target of 20 pro bono hours per lawyer per year, and a mechanism to benchmark progress through annual reporting of anonymous pro bono data. 

All barristers, law firms, individual solicitors, and in-house legal teams are welcome to join the Pledge. 

For more information on the Pledge, visit Pro Bono Pledge Ireland 

This text is taken verbatim from the Pro Bono Pledge Ireland website.  

PILA believes that it is important to cultivate a culture of pro bono early on in ones’ legal career. As such, we offer law students the opportunity to get involved in pro bono at the tertiary level, through clinical legal education. Clinical legal education is an innovative approach to legal training, which seeks to complement the theoretical training law students receive in the classroom with practical, hands-on experience in real world placements and clinics in return for academic credit.  

Clinical legal education has, as its’ focus, social justice. It was designed to provide pro bono assistance to those most in need and serve the wider needs of the community, while fostering a greater sense of professional ethics and responsibility in the next generation of lawyers. Law students who are seeking experience in the social justice field, are able to give back to those most in need while at the same time gaining invaluable legal experience.    

PILA truly believes in the indispensable role that law students play as drivers of long-term and sustainable change in legal culture. For this reason, we work to ensure clinical legal education in Ireland develops with the public interest at its heart. PILA was instrumental in establishing the Irish Clinical Legal Education Association, which brings together all the major third level institutions seeking to develop a more supportive environment for clinical legal education in Ireland. 

In 2015, PILA commissioned a report ‘Clinical Legal Education in Ireland: Progress and Potential’. The report takes a comprehensive look at the existing clinical legal education programmes in Ireland and outlines a number of recommendations for the future development of clinical legal education in Ireland. 

Should you wish to become involved in PILAs’ work, kindly send an email to pila@flac.ie We welcome applications from students in the 3rd year of their studies onwards.

Pro Bono Week is an annual event that brings together civil society, NGOs and members of the legal community such as lawyers, law students, non-profits, academics, and businesses. This event is a highlight in the pro bono communities calendar as we hold several events throughout the week to celebrate the role played by volunteer lawyers supporting civil society and those in need. We are all aware of the impact of pro bono in tackling unmet legal need and ensuring that the legal and social needs of the community are addressed. As such, the aim of Pro Bono Week is to bring together key players seeking to advance and develop pro bono in Ireland. 

Pro Bono Week 2022 will take place from 21 to 25 November. Watch this space for details of events for 2022!