DLA Piper NZ managing partner pitches centralised pro bono system in open letter

DLA Piper New Zealand managing partner Laura Scampion has called for the development of a centralised pro bono system in an open letter.

She pointed to Australia’s existing pro bono model, and pointed out that the increasing volume of Kiwis requiring legal representation, as well as issues with access to justice, have created “an undeniable case for a centralised pro bono system in New Zealand”.

“Streamlining and unifying our pro bono efforts, establishing referral mechanisms, setting national targets and providing firms with resources and infrastructure to ignite pro bono programs that will operate at scale would be a massive win for our society”, Scampion wrote.

She outlined the following initiatives that could be put in place for such a system:

• establishing a New Zealand pro bono centre
• setting national pro bono targets for firms/practitioners to voluntarily agree to
• developing a pro bono manual or best practice handbook
• implementing mechanisms for inter-firm collaboration to bring together specialists to service large projects

Scampion also suggested that leaders and firm representatives come together to pitch in on the cultivation of a strong pro bono infrastructure.

“The recent release of the 2022 Trust Law Index of Pro Bono confirmed my thinking that we must take a structured approach to pro bono. It said even having one element of pro bono infrastructure – a policy, a pro bono committee or a pro bono employee – increased average pro bono hours to an average of 32 hours per lawyer, compared to the average 13.5 hours done by lawyers without infrastructure,” she explained. “The report also notes that lawyers working at firms with a pro bono policy performed more than 2.5 times more pro bono work than their counterparts without a policy”.

Scampion acknowledged that a centralised pro bono system would not be a complete solution “given the complexity of access to justice…but it's one step in the right direction”.