UK lawyers have celebrated the launch of 2026’s UK Pro Bono Week, as law firms increased the amount of pro bono work recorded last year, according to UK Collaborative Plan for Pro Bono.
Running from 2 to 6 November, Pro Bono Week – which was established in 2002 – brings together law firms, chambers, corporates, law schools and charities across the UK. Data from UK Collaborative Plan for Pro Bono shows lawyers spent 645,453 hours in 2025 offering free legal assistance, a 1.29% increase on 2024’s levels.
Law Society of England and Wales president Brett Dixon welcomed solicitors’ contribution while emphasising the limits of free legal advice, saying while they should be recognised and celebrated, pro bono support cannot and should not be expected to replace a properly funded legal aid system.
The society is also marking the 10th anniversary of its Pro Bono Charter, through which firms, in-house teams and others demonstrate their commitment to improving access to justice.
It comes as legal heads at Lloyds Banking Group, Mondelez International and Societe Generale signed up to join the UK In House Pro Bono Pledge, which now extends to 25 companies, including Coca-Cola, Goldman Sachs and GSK, among others.
Bar Council chair Kirsty Brimelow KC echoed Dixon’s warning, saying: “Pro bono work is not a substitute for legal aid and should not act as a substitute for a properly funded justice system.”
Advocate, the Bar’s national pro bono charity in England and Wales, received 5,634 requests for free legal advice in 2025/26, an increase of 35%. The charity, which celebrated its 30th anniversary recently, has seen applications for assistance with employment law rise by 48% and housing law rise by 21% since 2021, as legal aid cuts, Covid-19 backlogs and the cost-of-living crisis push more people toward its services.
Advocate’s panel has grown from 350 barristers in 1996 to more than 5,000 today, spanning England and Wales. Christopher Stacey recently joined Advocate as chief executive, succeeding Rebecca Wilkie after a combined 12 years leading the charity across two separate periods.
UK attorney general Ellie Reeves KC gave a keynote address at the week’s official launch, hosted by TrustLaw, the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s pro bono legal network.
Reeves said: “Pro bono can be a lifeline when an everyday problem turns into a legal crisis, and the lawyers who volunteer should be applauded for their participation.”
It comes as the 2026 Pro Bono Recognition List of England and Wales grew by 16% compared to a year earlier, recognising 4,630 solicitors, 700 barristers, 136 legal executives and 47 registered foreign lawyers, alongside 37 trademark and patent attorneys for the first time.
In Scotland, the Faculty of Advocates is launching an exhibition on Scottish pro bono history in Parliament Hall and hosting the Scottish Pro Bono Roundtable’s next meeting on Wednesday, while Wales will see a Cardiff event examining pro bono history.
Northern Ireland’s Public Interest Litigation Support is also marking 15 years of its Pro Bono Register, with more than 120 lawyers. Director Kate Barry said: “Every pro bono matter is a collaboration, where access to justice becomes a reality, not an aspiration.”
Meanwhile, Hogan Lovells Cadwalader said it had become the first global law firm to embed a commitment to pro bono and wider citizenship in its constitution following its July merger.
Chief executive Miguel Zaldivar said: “We are making clear that creating positive impact is a fundamental part of who we are and how we define our success.”
International pro bono partner Yasmin Waljee OBE, who is also a judge at the Women and Diversity and Law Awards, said: “Our pro bono practice has always targeted impact: lives changed, rights secured and laws reformed. Hours are the means; impact is the measure.”
The firm’s citizenship policy encourages lawyers and business services colleagues to contribute at least 25 hours annually, noting HLC lawyers had generated more than 174,000 pro bono hours worldwide in 2025.
Recent UK work includes a nationality assessment system developed with LawFairy for Central England Law Centre, which it said has halved evaluation times for applications, among other initiatives.
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