Making an Impact Through Pro Bono Work in the UK
Partner Harkiran Hothi’s belief that lawyers are in a privileged position to make a difference in people’s lives resulted in her leading pro bono efforts for Kirkland’s London office.
“I’m incredibly proud to lead the London office’s pro bono efforts,” Harkiran said. “It is a privilege to work alongside talented colleagues to make a meaningful impact in the lives of vulnerable clients and a tangible difference in our local communities.”
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Since taking on this role, Harkiran has watched her colleagues’ efforts lead to real, meaningful change across a wide range of communities in need. Over the past year alone, lawyers in our London office have devoted significant pro bono hours to many important causes, with plans to expand on these life-changing efforts in the years to come.
Housing and Homelessness: Partnering with the University House Legal Advice Centre, one of London’s oldest legal aid organisations, we provide volunteer staff for weekly housing clinics in East London. The clinics provide free legal support to vulnerable individuals facing homelessness, evictions and poor living conditions.
Social Security Benefits: Partnering with charity Z2K (Zacchaeus 2000 Trust), Kirkland represents individuals before the First-tier Tribunal to appeal decisions by the Department for Work and Pensions that have wrongly denied clients the social security support they are entitled to. These decisions can cause severe financial hardship and emotional distress. Our volunteers interview clients, gather supporting evidence, prepare submissions, and provide representation and ongoing support throughout the appeal process. This partnership continues to grow each year as more Kirkland lawyers get involved to help secure justice for people unfairly treated by the system.
“It’s a privilege working with Z2K to assist clients who are going through extreme physical, emotional and financial hardship, and to play our part in guiding them through the complicated landscape of social security and welfare appeals,” said partner George Dyesmith, who has represented several clients up to appeal level for Z2K. “We’re proud of our high success rate at appeal and the big difference this makes to the lives of vulnerable clients.”
Prisoner Representation: We support Amicus, an apolitical, non-campaigning, nonprofit organisation that helps provide legal representation to those facing the death penalty in the U.S., by building a portfolio of user-friendly case files for the counsel representing prisoners on death row.
Mental Health Research: Working with Reprieve, a non-governmental organisation defending human rights, we’ve helped draft memos and fact sheets about the mental health impacts of death row on women and marginalised individuals in several countries. We’ve also conducted research on jurisprudence and scholarship work related to women who’ve experienced abuse.
Charity Funding: Alongside charity UnLtd, our Investment Funds Group helped raise capital from a diverse group of investors to form a novel fund structure that allows social investor Big Issue Invest to support social enterprises tackling inequality in the UK.
Learn more about our commitment to pro bono work.