The Honorary Counsel pilot, which has been running since January 2016, responds to the growing interest from both lawyers and not-for-profit organisations for more in-depth assistance and involvement. Through the scheme, LawWorks matches not-for-profit organisations with their own ‘Honorary Counsel’ for longer-term pro bono assistance.
Volunteers from firms or in-house teams become the first port of call for initial, brief advice about potential legal issues (much like General Counsel). They also carry out a high level legal ‘health check’ of the organisation’s main documents to identify obvious gaps or issues, and they of course also access LawWorks’ existing casework brokerage service if they need to refer larger pieces of work on.
The aim of the scheme is to be proactive in identifying potential problems so that the not-for-profit organisation’s time and money can be saved in the long-run, allowing more resources to be spent on their valuable services for people in need.
Feedback received so far from pilot participants has been very positive, with not-for-profit organisations grateful for the ‘peace of mind’ offered by the scheme, and with lawyers appreciating the level of client contact and the opportunity to use their skills to ‘give something back’.
Keep an eye on your emails for more news on the roll out and if you have any queries please contact: nfp@lawworks.org.uk