Jones Day has always taken pro bono work very seriously. The Firm is involved in a range of pro bono activities, from civil liberties and death row cases to assistance with community projects and law centres.

The London Office is keen to get trainees involved in pro bono work and to suggest pro bono opportunities. The Firm recognises the additional, broad experience that such work can give: time spent doing pro bono work, even out of office hours, is credited to the trainee.

In London, amongst other projects, Jones Day is heavily involved with the Waterloo Legal Advice Service (WLAS), a volunteer service offering free legal advice to members of the public on a Thursday evening near Waterloo Station. WLAS helps the many people who do not qualify for legal aid but cannot afford the fees of a solicitor. The work is rarely glamorous, but makes a real difference to people whose lives are dominated by problems such as unjust treatment at work, negligent landlords, and demands for debts. Several trainees and solicitors attend WLAS and a large number of solicitors in the London Office have worked there in the past. Jones Day also supports WLAS financially and provides administrative and typing support, as well as senior solicitors to oversee work and check correspondence. All those who have worked at WLAS agree that it is a rewarding opportunity.

In addition to its work for WLAS, the London Office has acted on appeals to the Privy Council from Jamaica in relation to inmates on death row and assisted with a number of initiatives proposed by trainees, including acting for Football Aid, a charity which arranges matches between paying members of the public and professional footballers, raising proceeds for various charities.

At Jones Day, we believe it is perfectly possible to combine a career in a City law firm with the opportunity to assist those less fortunate.

Pro Bono Worldwide

Ben Bury
Pembroke College, Oxford, Jurisprudence

The Waterloo Legal Advice Service (WLAS) is operated from the Waterloo Action Centre in Baylis Road, behind Waterloo Railway Station. WLAS is made up of 20-30 solicitors, barristers, and other trained legal professionals who volunteer their services to local residents on a pro bono basis.

I have been volunteering at WLAS for over two years, and have found it very rewarding and interesting. I have advised clients on various issues including unfair dismissal, trespass, debt recovery, breach of tenancy, and even a case involving bigamy! I am frequently having to research new aspects of law and legal practice at WLAS. All drafting must be done that evening with the client present so that the letter can be read back to him or her to approve there and then. This has been an invaluable lesson in thinking on my feet and keeping letters short and sharp.

The lessons you are taught at law school about interviewing clients are often quickly abandoned. Many clients at WLAS want to explain their problems at great length and if I sit there quietly without interruption I may not get home until midnight! A skill I am trying to learn is how to gently but firmly direct a client towards identifying the legal problem in respect of which they need advice. 

Clients at WLAS couldn't be more different from clients I meet at Jones Day. The people who come to WLAS are almost without exception unemployed and inexperienced with law. In contrast, clients at Jones Day are often in-house counsel, who are trained lawyers. In addition, the interests of clients at Jones Day tend to be commercially and economically driven, whereas clients at WLAS will have a much more personal motivation for speaking with you. Often clients at WLAS are very distressed and vulnerable and in need of reassurance and counseling as well as legal advice.

Time and resources devoted to clients at WLAS are minimal and if their cases require daily attention I am often forced to transfer them to another solicitor who specialises in working in the particular areas concerned. This means that from the outset I am trying to find a way to resolve the dispute without having to go through protracted legal proceedings. I try to avoid telephone conversations and meetings with other solicitors and/or other parties on WLAS matters because they have to be done during the day when I am working on other things. Of course, sometimes a forceful exchange over the telephone is the only way to bring a dispute to a speedy resolution and I have had cause to do this.

WLAS asks that the same lawyer looks after the same client to ensure that time is not wasted getting lawyers up to speed and allowing a working relationship to develop. It also means that each lawyer must make a special effort to attend the centre every week.

One of the best things about WLAS is that it provides a great opportunity to meet lawyers practicing in very different fields to your own and to make some new friends. Every week, the session finishes with a trip to a local pub and various subsidised dinners and nights at the theatre are organised by the members, including a Christmas dinner at the end of every year.