Pro Bono

Members of Serle Court frequently act on a pro bono basis, both providing written advice and appearing in court. Members volunteer for Advocate, the Bar’s national charity which offers free legal assistance to the community, and the Chancery Bar Litigants In Person (CLIPS) scheme, under which barristers provide free advocacy for litigants in person making urgent applications to the court. Our mediators also work with the Advocate Pro Bono Mediation Scheme.

Matthew Morrison (with Advocate trustee Eleanor Holland, 4 Stone Buildings) runs PILARS, the Personal Insolvency Litigation Advice and Representation Scheme). PILARS works with Advocate to match individuals facing personal insolvency proceedings with specialist barristers who can help (often on an expedited basis). Cases include statutory demands, bankruptcy petitions, applications to annul and appeals against bankruptcy orders. PILARS also offers training and guidance to frontline agencies helping individuals with debt problems.  Matthew Morrison is also Serle Court’s Pro Bono Champion at Advocate and sits on the Chancery Bar Association’s Pro Bono Committee.

In this article from the Access to Justice Foundation, some of our members discuss their success in obtaining pro bono costs orders.

In this special edition of SerleShare, Beverly-Ann Rogers, Matthew Morrison and George Vare describe how they were instructed on a family law dispute by Advocate and were able to settle the dispute on favourable terms for their client. The client described the settlement as a "life changing event".  Click here to read their article.