Pro bono, a student’s greatest lesson

Liam Chin writes the next blog in our summer series where recent graduates share how their understanding of the value of pro bono legal work has developed in light of their participation in the Open Justice activities of the past year. Liam participated in the Freedom Law Clinic project.

As I apprehensively engaged in my first Freedom Law Clinic (FLC) meeting, I wondered what the purpose of this Open Justice activity was. I had signed up to a pro bono project that works on criminal appeal cases. I knew I would be working as part of a team to research and investigate criminal appeals, before presenting our findings, but I had no idea how much I would learn.

My understanding of pro bono work was that it is the provision of unpaid services to those unable to afford them. It was not until I was fully engaged in the FLC project that I realised the importance of pro bono work to social justice.

I chose to undertake pro bono work in a bid to advance my own personal agenda; something to have on my cv as I seek a career at the Bar. However, I quickly realised that there was a clear link between pro bono work and social justice, especially how providing free legal services to those unable to afford them supports the Rule of Law’s principle of access to justice.

An excerpt from my portfolio reads; “I truly feel like I am making a difference to someone’s life who, without our unpaid work, would not have access to justice.” (Extract 1). Not having access to justice would have denied our clients the ability to appeal their convictions. Working on the project allowed me to contextualise my legal knowledge in a practical setting and witness social inequalities first-hand. It gave me a desire to challenge and overcome these inequalities for the good of society. This is now my ambition as a lawyer, a realisation I would not have had if I had not been involved in pro bono work.

Continuing cuts to legal aid funding had made me wonder whether the importance of pro bono work for university students was necessary to fulfil a moral obligation to social justice and fill a gap left by the government, or whether it was a pro-active approach to education. On reflection, I am amazed by the valuable lessons I have learnt for my personal development as well as that of social justice.

I did not find working in a group easy. I was frequently annoyed by the level of participation of some team members and wrote; “I am really disappointed that I seem to be doing more work than others. I’m really going to tell them about my feelings in the final group meeting.” (Extract 2) I was angry but working on the FLC made me appreciate the importance of working for the greater good. My learning from Unit 7 on the skill of group work and Unit 3 on Legal ethics and values changed my mindset and made me refrain from any angry outbursts. The ethical theory of consequentialism made me balance out what is best for the overall result. Our job as a team was to seek justice for our client and chastising my team would create tension and not achieve our overarching positive aim. 

Importantly for me, pro bono work has taught me the value of virtue ethics. It has taught me that overall, I want to be a good person by thinking about the consequences of my actions.  (Herring 2014) states; “We seek the caring, just and devoted lawyer.” This is exactly what I will be, by making sure I always seek the greater good and by not allowing my personal frustrations to detract from my positive aims.

My understanding of the value of pro bono has greatly developed by participating in the FLC. I have realised how important pro bono work is to social justice and the invaluable self-development it encourages in law students.