Mary Paterson
Sep 28, 2022
Doing pro bono legal work is an important and gratifying experience for lawyers, students, and for our communities and many of the most successful organizations and top in-house counsel in Canada are pro bono leaders. In their article published in the Fall, 2022, edition of The Advocates’ Journal, Osler’s Mary Paterson, partner, Litigation, and Jesse-Ross Cohen, associate, Litigation, together with Gordon Currie, Executive Vice-President of George Weston Limited, make the case that there is a strong correlation between pro bono work and the growth and profitability of a law firm.
An obvious benefit of a robust pro bono program is recruiting, training and retaining top talent. For junior lawyers in particular, it provides real-world experience. Pro bono work therefore delivers valuable training, while also helping the community.
This work can also help reduce the court system backlog by cutting back on the number of unnecessary appearances tying up system resources, many of which stem from self-represented litigants who do not understand their rights or the rules.
If you are a member of The Advocates’ Society you can read the Advocates’ Journal article online.