Legal pro bono: Why it’s worth demanding

In this short lecture Amy Heading, UK and Nordic Countries Pro Bono Director for DLA Piper, will trace the history of pro bono in the legal services sector.

This is a free event however registration is required in advance. There will be a drinks reception after the lecture.

In this short lecture Amy Heading, UK and Nordic Countries Pro Bono Director for DLA Piper, will trace the history of pro bono in the legal services sector. She will outline the global trends and offer students and insight into DLA Piper’s approach to pro bono, given that it is one of the largest providers of pro bono legal services in the world. Amy will draw on examples of the firm’s pro bono activities in Leeds, as well as cross-UK, and give examples from its offices from across the world. She will also talk about new research which suggests that pro bono brings positive outcomes not just for clients and the community, but for the firm and the lawyers themselves undertaking the work. She will explain why pro bono makes business sense, how students should ask about pro bono opportunities in interviews for training contracts, and why lawyers should integrate pro bono as part of their practice, irrespective of the area of law they specialise in. 

Amy completed her two undergraduate degrees, law and psychology, in Australia, and her masters degree in international human rights law in the US. She started off her career as a commercial lawyer, but quickly realised her passion lay in access to justice and the effective use of pro bono capacity. For the past eight years she has helped to build and develop pro bono practices for law firms and universities in Australia, the US and the UK. She currently manages DLA's pro bono practice in the UK and Nordic countries, working with over 1000 lawyers based in ten offices to undertake local, regional and international pro bono work. 

Amy will be available for a brief networking session after her lecture.