Lawyers across UK raise money for pro bono in Legal Walk 2018

Tens of thousands of lawyers nationwide took part in walks to raise vital funding for free legal services this month, culminating in the London Legal Walk 2018 in which 12,000 people participated.

Judges and top QCs took part alongside solicitors, legal executives, paralegals and students to fundraise for local law centres and branches of Citizens Advice, which provide advice to the most vulnerable and in-need members of society.

The government’s legal aid cuts have made accessing advice much more difficult for families facing homelessness, disabled people, women and children who have been the victims of human trafficking, refugees, elderly people in need of community care support, people with mental health problems and those facing unemployment. Many law centres and solicitors’ firms have closed in recent years due to the cuts reducing the viability of legal aid work, making advice completely unavailable for those unable to travel great distances to the next-nearest centre.

The Legal Walk initiative is testament to the community spirit of the profession, but professionals including President of the Supreme Court, Baroness Hale also remarked that it is a tragedy that such charitable efforts are necessary to secure basic access to justice for those in need.

Joe Egan, president of the Law Society, commented: “Each year thousands of solicitors and barristers across the UK take to the streets to raise money for charity. The London Legal Walk is a highpoint in the calendar and it is vital for raising money for organisations that provide free legal advice. This fundraising effort means a hugely diverse range of people get vital advice helping them face frightening legal situations. Those benefiting from the advice are vulnerable and would be unable to afford this assistance – and remember those least able to afford legal advice often can be in the most urgent need of it! Solicitors and the wider legal profession are committed to helping them.”