Firms and chambers form Olympics pro bono panel

A panel of 18 firms and chambers has been set up to provide free legal advice to athletes, coaches, team officials, national Olympic committees, national Paralympic committees and international federations at the 2012 Olympics.

Legal Week reports that the pro bono panel will be on hand to offer advice on a number of legal issues, including sport, crime, defamation and privacy, immigration and asylum, discrimination and personal injury. Each firm or set will offer advice on a particular area. The panel has been put together by, among others, the Bar Council and the Law Society.

The full list of firms and chambers involved is as follows: Argent Chambers, 2 Bedford Row, 36 Bedford Row, Blackstone Chambers, Brabners Chaffe Street, Charles Russell, 1 Crown Office Row, DLA Piper, Farrer & Co, 4-5 Gray's Inn Square, Harper Macleod, 2 Hare Court, Lincoln House Chambers, Mischon de Reya, 4 New Square, 18 Red Lion Court, Russell Cooke, and Wright Hassall.

In other pro bono news, two new charities have set up shop at the National Pro Bono Centre, joining the Bar Pro Bono Unit, LawWorks, ILEX Pro Bono and the Access to Justice Foundation. The first, the London Legal Support Trust, supports the work of social welfare legal centres in London and the Home Counties. The second, i-Probono, is a non-profit online network that connects organisations in need of legal assistance with lawyers and students who want to use their legal skills for the public good.