Abstract
Access to justice is firmly on the policy agenda and pro bono work is an important part of that agenda. While it can only ever make a limited contribution to closing the justice gap, it can provide access to legal services for some who would otherwise miss out. For pro bono to make this contribution, however, it needs to be very clear that only some types of free legal work achieve this goal and can, therefore, properly be called “pro bono”. Ensuring that the profession has this shared understanding of what constitutes pro bono work lays the foundation to organise and encourage the profession to do more. A shared definition means that the pro bono contributions of the profession can be measured and rewarded, and pro bono can provide part of the solution to the justice gap.