Guest post by Dr Liz Curran, professor of justice reform and legal innovation at Nottingham Law School. The views in this blog are her own
Curran: UK needs to learn from Australia
In this, the third blog of my series (see the first two here [1] and here [2]), I focus on what lawyers in the UK can do to improve access to justice through greater professional stewardship.
It shares the incredible opportunities seized in other jurisdictions – specifically Australia – that have driven significant improvements in access to justice, cultural change, ethical practice and consistent data collection about the legal profession’s contributions.
The ideas in this article are based on my research, three decades of legal practice experience, and as one of the collaborators in the architectural design in Australia.
This design has facilitated a significant improvement in access to justice through greater harnessing, fostering and facilitation of the profession’s contribution, moving it from ad hoc charity to something more fundamental.
According to campaign group JUSTICE [3], nearly 42m people across England and Wales are unable to access a community care legal aid provider in their local area, while 2024 research by the Legal Services Board and Law Society found that at least 32% of people [4] have unmet legal need.
Many in the legal profession already undertake pro bono and other public service – and many do more than their fair share. I would not want to see any retreat, and recognise how critical and valuable this work is.
But it is nowhere near enough. The UK legal industry’s annual revenue is put at £60bn. At the same time, the most disadvantaged community members rely on legal help but are not getting it.
There is little consistent data collected in the UK on which firms do what levels of pro bono, unlike in Australia, and how many receive government contracts. It would be wonderful to see such an analysis.
Many law firms do government work and they profit extensively from the public funds generated through VAT and other taxes paid by the very members of the community who are experiencing inequality.
These people cannot access the courts and legal advice that the government and corporate clients can and instead languish in dire need. This makes the underlying lynchpin of the rule of law – equality before the law – a fiction in the daily lives of many.
This gives rise to the civic duty and professional stewardship that this article is urging.
Whilst the government does have a role in adequately funding legal aid and legal support, fiscal constraints mean the constant call for more funding will not land. Instead, both creative and tested innovations are needed, considering the scale of this increasing problem.
We cannot keep kicking the can down the road. People are suffering.
In Australia, I worked as a solicitor and director of a law centre-equivalent to design and develop a partnership between government, the legal support sector and the legal profession to maximise the profession’s contribution through providing legal services on a free or significantly reduced fee basis, with no expectation of a commercial return.
This was at the request of the then Attorney General of Victoria. This new architecture enhanced the profession’s community engagement strategies so that they are not seen just as an act of charity but instead viewed as taking serious responsibility to protect, nurture and guide the community.
Why? Because lawyers are in a privileged and powerful position to extend their protective reach to secure the common good.
Key was goodwill, a willingness to try new things and openness. It required institutional alliances, while a clear indication from government of its expectations in firms tendering for government work was key.
The national, Victorian, New South Wales, South Australian, Western Australian and Queensland governments now include pro bono requirements in their tender arrangements for legal services.
The UK needs to explore something similar.
Based on lessons from Australia and Canada, pre-conditions would be to ensure a clear definition of ‘pro bono’ and that the access it enables is independent from government, given that much pro bono work challenges public decision-making.
Back in 2021, the then shadow justice secretary David Lammy said a Labour government would support the introduction of a national pro-bono service with binding pro bono targets for firms seeking public contracts.
Labour now needs to take this forward.
In Australia, the profession has reaped unanticipated benefits from endowing its expertise for the public good and being seen as a vital public asset, restoring high standards and honour, and demonstrating social responsibility.
Complimenting this should be better data and research about pro bono [5] in the UK and further support to develop a deeper culture of pro bono across the profession.
In Australia, this multi-pronged approach, over time has seen the growth of pro bono units in law firms, increased pro bono and inroads into improving access to justice to underserved communities through growth in firms undertaking this work, improved training of lawyers in genuine client care, advice deserts addressed, improved staff retention in law firms, and increased supervision by experienced lawyers as a new-found passion for this work emerges.
There has also been an increase in opportunities for law students [6], also reported in Canadian provinces such as Quebec, and early career lawyers to become involved in diverse work and most importantly a deeper understanding of ‘people-centred’ lawyering.
Instead of resisting, this offers a win for community, a win for the profession and a win for equality before the law.
Given my engagement and policy input on this topic since the 1990s, I am happy to help in what is an amazing and unexplored opportunity. For further detail, my Policy Brief Three on the topic is available in my oral evidence [7] to the Parliamentary Justice Committee and my written submission [8].