Pro Bono Practice and Opportunities in Scotland

The legal profession in Scotland is divided into three branches: solicitors, solicitor advocates, and advocates.

Solicitors are regulated by The Law Society of Scotland (the “Law Society”) and must observe the Law Society of Scotland Practice Rules 2011 (the “Rules”),^[2] which govern the provision of legal services by solicitors. They must also undertake a minimum of 20 hours of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) each year.^[3] In-house solicitors must observe the same Rules and CPD requirements and must remain intellectually and technically independent from their employer.^[4]

Solicitor advocates are also regulated by the Law Society and must also observe the Rules. However, as solicitor advocates have extended rights of audience to higher courts alongside advocates, they must pay particular attention to Rule C4 which governs the conduct of solicitor advocates.^[5]

Advocates are regulated by the Faculty of Advocates (the “Faculty”) under powers delegated to it by the Court of Session. The Court of Session is responsible for regulating the professional practice, conduct, and discipline of advocates under the Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010. The Guide to Professional Conduct (the “Guide”) sets out the principles and rules of professional conduct applicable to advocates in Scotland.^[6]

To practise as a solicitor/solicitor advocate in Scotland, a person must be admitted as a solicitor, have their name on the roll, and hold a practicing certificate. Such practicing certificates are obtained from the Council of the Law Society.

Pursuant to the Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010, persons are admitted to the office of Advocate by the Court of Session. The Court of Session is also responsible for prescribing the criteria and procedure for admission but delegates this to the Faculty. However, such criteria and procedure are subject to the approval of the Lord President of the Court of Session.

The provision of pro bono legal services by solicitors and/or advocates in Scotland is not regulated by any separate rules specific to pro bono legal services. However, as noted above, all solicitors in Scotland must observe the Rules, and all advocates in Scotland must adhere to the Guide, which also applies to the provision of pro bono advice.

Pursuant to Rule B2.1.2, in-house solicitors in Scotland must not act for two or more parties whose interests conflict. As it is the role of in-house solicitors to provide legal advice to the company or organisation that employs them, they should be mindful of the potential for conflicts of interest that may arise with respect to providing pro bono legal advice to third-party clients.

There is no requirement in Scotland for an additional licence to be obtained by lawyers in order to provide pro bono legal services.

There is no bar to lawyers qualified in another jurisdiction working in Scotland to provide pro bono legal services, provided that they do not describe themselves as “solicitors” and instead must describe themselves under their home title.

Foreign lawyers cannot undertake certain types of work reserved by statute for Scottish-qualified solicitors. These are set out in section 32 of the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980 ^[7] and include the conveyancing of land and/or buildings, litigation (civil or criminal), and obtaining confirmation in favour of executors (the Scottish equivalent of probate).

Lawyers in Scotland are not required to work a minimum number of pro bono hours.

Aspiring lawyers in Scotland are not required to complete a minimum number of hours of pro bono legal services in order to become licensed lawyers.

There are no aspirational pro bono hours targets, but most large commercial firms encourage their lawyers to do pro bono work and may set aspirational targets as such.

Some law firms are participating members of the UK-wide initiative “UK Collaborative Plan for Pro Bono” ^[8] so their Scottish offices would contribute to the initiative’s aspirational target of 25 pro bono hours on average per lawyer in each participating firm.

Pro bono work does not constitute CPD for solicitors, solicitor advocates, or advocates in Scotland.

Pursuant to Rule B7.1.2,^[9] the Law Society maintains the Master Policy, which is a compulsory professional indemnity insurance arrangement that covers all Scottish solicitors working in private practice (this includes cover for pro bono legal services). However, there is no requirement for professional indemnity insurance for in-house solicitors.

Under paragraph 5.1.4 of the Guide, advocates are obliged to maintain a reasonable level of professional indemnity insurance cover having regard to the nature of that advocate’s practice.

As well as holding professional indemnity insurance coverage in its work for their direct employer, a lawyer must have coverage if they act for a client other than their employer, including a pro bono client. An in-house lawyer should be cognisant of this if taking on any pro bono work for a third-party client.

Rule B3.2 ^[10] states that solicitors in Scotland must not make a direct or indirect approach, whether verbal or written, to any person whom they know or ought reasonably to know to be the client of another regulated person with the intention to solicit business from that person and, as such, solicitors must consider whether a potential third-party pro bono client is already a client of another solicitor or law firm before approaching them.

Paragraph 10.2 of the Guide sets out several prohibitions to an advocate’s right to advertise their services in Scotland. These include that any such advertising must not be inaccurate or likely to mislead, make direct comparisons in terms of quality with or criticisms of other identifiable persons, and/or include statements about the advocate’s success rate.

In Scotland, civil legal assistance is split into two distinct categories:

• Legal Advice & Assistance (any assistance given to an individual, not including court representation); and
• Assistance by Way of Representation, which covers court representation.

The main opportunities for the provision of pro bono legal services are:

• providing advice not covered by the Scottish Legal Aid Board pertaining to personal injury, certain elements of employment law, and advice to companies/charities, or
• providing advice to individuals who are deemed ineligible for any form of Legal Aid.

In addition, some smaller charities may seek to benefit from pro bono assistance on non-litigious matters, usually provided by commercial firms.

The primary focus areas of pro bono in Scotland for firms responding to TrustLaw’s survey, which provided a basis for its Index of Pro Bono 2024, were access to justice (63%), immigration, refugees and asylum (50%), and women’s rights (38%).^[11]

The main providers of pro bono legal services in Scotland include:

• NGOs (such as Citizens Advice Scotland through their Citizens Advice Bureaux,^[12]
• Scottish Women’s Rights Centre,^[13]
• the Ethnic Minorities Law Centre ^[14]
• the Scottish Child Law Centre ^[15]),
• Charities, (such as Shelter Scotland ^[16]),
• law school and university pro bono centres, and clinics ^[17]
• and private law firms. The Faculty of Advocates also provides pro bono legal services through its Free Legal Services Unit.^[18]

There is an AI tool built on ChatGPT designed to provide legal advice regarding a range of immigration queries for people settling in Scotland; however, it is unclear whether the author of this tool has a legal background and how accurate the tool is.^[19] Anyone looking to obtain specific legal advice should always contact a solicitor with expertise in the relevant area of law.

In partnership with CivTech, Citizens Advice Scotland launched an innovation challenge aimed at exploring how technology could support Citizens Advice advisers in delivering the best possible outcomes for their clients by leveraging data and collective expertise. The winners of this challenge, Wyser, developed an AI tool to transcribe interviews, generate case summaries, and pre-populate Citizens Advice Scotland’s case management system, among other functions.^[20]

Inspiring Scotland’s pro bono team and J.P. Morgan’s pro bono “Force for Good” program offered expertise in innovative technology to Scottish charitable organisations in 2018.^[21]

Governmental

The Government Legal Service for Scotland (the GLSS) is a professional community of government lawyers in Scotland. The GLSS Pro Bono Network is designed to encourage government lawyers to volunteer their legal services for the benefit of the wider community. Through the GLSS Pro Bono Network, government lawyers can become involved in a number of pro bono activities, including providing advice at their local Citizens Advice Bureau, serving as a charity trustee, raising funds, lobbying at local and national levels, negotiating agreements, and establishing Citizens Advice Bureaux.^[22]

Non-Governmental

The main non-governmental sources of pro bono in Scotland include bodies that work to connect organisations that are able to provide pro bono legal services with individuals or bodies that require them, such as Citizens Advice Scotland,^[23] Inspiring Scotland,^[24] and the Faculty of Advocates Free Legal Services Unit.^[25]

Thomson Reuters Foundation’s TrustLaw service provides participants with pro bono projects to give them an opportunity to offer assistance.^[26]

The Herald Law Awards of Scotland has a category for pro bono work.^[27]

There is a national pro bono guide for Scotland (last updated in November 2024) that helps users signpost clients to pro bono services and other free advice.^[28]