LawWorks
A UK solicitors' pro bono charity founded in 1997, co-founder of the National Pro Bono Centre in 2010, which runs England and Wales's largest network of free legal advice clinics.
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- Established
- 1997
- Location
- London, United Kingdom
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Founded
- Incorporated as a company on 29 July 1997, under the name Solicitors Pro Bono Group
- Legal structure
- Private company limited by guarantee, No. 03410932, registered with Companies House
- Registered office
- 89 Chancery Lane, London WC2A 1EU, per Companies House records
- Founding mission (per own account)
- To champion pro bono volunteering in the legal profession and facilitate access to justice for those without meansstated by the subject
- Chief Executive
- Rebecca Wilkinson, per the organisation's own press releasesstated by the subject
- Chair (from September 2025)
- Lord (Peter) Goldsmith KC, who also founded the pro bono charity Advocate in 1996
- Clinic network (2025, per own account)
- More than 300 independent free legal advice clinics across England and Wales, up from around 200 nine years earlierstated by the subject
- Charity registration
- Registered charity No. 1064274 (England and Wales), under its legal name Solicitors Pro Bono Group — a separate registration from its Companies House company number, 03410932, above
Overview
LawWorks is a UK charity, operating originally under the name Solicitors Pro Bono Group, that coordinates pro bono legal work by solicitors and runs a network of free legal advice clinics across England and Wales. Companies House records the underlying company as incorporated on 29 July 1997 (Companies House); separately, it is registered as a charity under No. 1064274, per the Law Society Gazette’s own charity supplier listing, which quotes the Charity Commission register directly — the two are distinct UK registrations for the same organisation, not conflicting figures (Law Gazette). A specialist legal careers publication independently confirms the 1997 founding date and identifies Rebecca Wilkinson as its current Chief Executive, describing its main activities as a clinic network, a Not-for-Profits Programme supporting small charities, and the Pro Bono Connect referral scheme for matching solicitors and barristers with people who cannot afford legal advice (LawCareers.Net).
Founding organisation of the National Pro Bono Centre
In October 2010, LawWorks — described in contemporary coverage as “the Solicitors’ Pro Bono Group” — became one of three national bodies, alongside the barristers’ charity now known as Advocate and the ILEX Pro Bono Forum, housed together at the newly launched National Pro Bono Centre at 48 Chancery Lane in London (Counsel).
Clinics, awards and leadership
LawWorks’s Annual Pro Bono Awards recognise firms, individual lawyers and clinics for pro bono contributions. In 2019 the awards were presented by then Supreme Court president Lady Hale to roughly 260 finalists and guests at the Law Society, and included a newly introduced “best international pro bono award” category, the Law Society Gazette reported (Law Gazette). A separate Gazette report quotes then LawWorks chairman Paul Newdick thanking member firms for their “invaluable contributions” and describes regional clinic partnerships, including a London project backed by DLA Piper modelled on an existing Leeds scheme (Law Gazette). In 2021, LawWorks’s Student Pro Bono Awards — presented jointly with the Attorney General’s office — recognised Nottingham Trent University’s law school clinic, now operating as NLS Legal, with “Best Contribution by a Law School,” crediting 340 of its student volunteers with helping secure over £730,000 for clients the preceding year, Legal Cheek reported (Legal Cheek). By its own account, marking “25 years of LawWorks” in 2022, Chief Executive Rebecca Wilkinson described the charity as founded by “a group of solicitors who recognised the potential of professional volunteering to make a tangible positive impact on society” (LawWorks). In July 2025 LawWorks announced that Lord (Peter) Goldsmith KC — the barrister who founded the pro bono charity now known as Advocate in 1996 — would become its Chair from 1 September 2025, succeeding Alasdair Douglas, under whom the charity said its clinic network had grown from around 200 to more than 300 locations and its volunteer base from 4,500 to 13,000 (LawWorks).
What this profile does not claim
This profile verifies LawWorks’s 1997 incorporation date and registered office against Companies House records, its charity registration number against the Law Society Gazette’s own charity supplier listing, and its 2010 founding role at the National Pro Bono Centre, 2019 and 2021 awards events and chairman’s quote against Law Society Gazette and Legal Cheek reporting from those years. Its founding mission, current Chief Executive, 2025 chair appointment and internal growth figures rest on the charity’s own website and lawcareers.net’s description and are flagged accordingly; the individual solicitors who founded the charity in 1997 are not named in any source checked. Its Companies House company number and Charity Commission charity number are two separate, independently confirmed registrations for the same organisation, not a discrepancy. It does not attempt a full history of the charity’s activities across its nearly three decades of operation.
Timeline
- 1997
- Founded as the Solicitors Pro Bono Group, incorporated as a company on 29 July 1997; the charity later adopted the operating name LawWorks.
- 2010
- Became one of three founding organisations housed at the newly launched National Pro Bono Centre at 48 Chancery Lane, London, alongside the Bar Pro Bono Unit and the ILEX Pro Bono Forum, according to Counsel magazine's report on the launch.
- 2019
- Its Annual Pro Bono Awards, presented that year by then Supreme Court president Lady Hale to around 260 finalists and guests at the Law Society, included a newly created "best international pro bono award" category, the Law Society Gazette reported.
- 2021
- Its LawWorks and Attorney General Student Pro Bono Awards, given out by then Attorney General Michael Ellis QC at a virtual ceremony, recognised Nottingham Trent University's Nottingham Law School clinic — now operating as NLS Legal — with "Best Contribution by a Law School," Legal Cheek reported, crediting 340 student volunteers with helping secure over £730,000 for clients in the preceding academic year.
- 2022
- Marked "25 years of LawWorks" on its own website, with Chief Executive Rebecca Wilkinson describing the charity as founded by "a group of solicitors who recognised the potential of professional volunteering to make a tangible positive impact on society."
- 2025
- Announced Lord (Peter) Goldsmith KC — founder of the barristers' pro bono charity Advocate — as its incoming Chair from 1 September 2025, succeeding outgoing Chair Alasdair Douglas after a nine-year tenure in which the charity's clinic network grew from around 200 to more than 300 locations and its volunteer base from 4,500 to 13,000.
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- The precise publication date of the Law Gazette article quoting then chairman Paul Newdick on LawWorks's regional clinic partnerships could not be confirmed from the page as fetched.
- LawWorks's own account of its 1997 founding by "a group of solicitors" does not name specific individual founders, and no independent source naming them was found.
Sources
9 sources (1 tier 1, 6 tier 2, 2 first-party), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Statements the subject makes about itself are marked as such and are not treated as independent evidence. See the source policy.
Three Law Society Gazette (Law Gazette) news/profile pages, a Legal Cheek report and a lawcareers.net profile were fetched and read in full and are independent of the charity; its Companies House filing record and its Charity Commission registration (independently confirmed via the Gazette's own charity supplier page, which quotes the Charity Commission register directly) are UK government-backed registrations. Its own website (25th-anniversary post and the press release announcing Lord Goldsmith's appointment as Chair) was used only for uncontested structural facts, leadership names and its own reported activity figures, all flagged as first-party. Wikipedia was not used for this profile.
- SOLICITORS PRO BONO GROUP overview Supports: The company's incorporation date (29 July 1997), company number, status, registered legal form, and registered office address.
- First ever national Legal Pro Bono Centre launched Supports: Confirmation that LawWorks (identified as the Solicitors' Pro Bono Group) was one of three founding organisations of the National Pro Bono Centre in October 2010.
- Gallery: Hale presents LawWorks Annual Pro Bono Awards Supports: The 2019 Annual Pro Bono Awards ceremony, Lady Hale's role in presenting it, attendance numbers, and the new "best international pro bono award" category.
- Pro bono work celebrated in annual awards Supports: A quote from then LawWorks chairman Paul Newdick and examples of regional clinic partnerships, including a DLA Piper-backed London project.
- King's, Cardiff and Nottingham law schools bag awards for pro bono efforts Supports: Confirmation that LawWorks and the Attorney General co-present the Student Pro Bono Awards, and that Nottingham Trent University's law school clinic (now NLS Legal) won "Best Contribution by a Law School" in 2021.
- LawWorks Supports: Independent confirmation of LawWorks's charity registration number, 1064274, and its description as a charity connecting people to free legal advice.
- LawWorks (the Solicitors Pro Bono Group) Supports: Independent confirmation of the 1997 founding date, current Chief Executive Rebecca Wilkinson, and a description of the charity's main programmes.
- 25 years of LawWorks Supports: The charity's own account of its founding mission and its 2022 25th-anniversary framing, including a quote from Chief Executive Rebecca Wilkinson.
- Press Release: LawWorks announces appointment of Lord Goldsmith KC as incoming Chair Supports: Lord Goldsmith's appointment as Chair from 1 September 2025, his founding of Advocate, the outgoing chair's growth figures over his nine-year tenure, and quotes from both.
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