Pro bono

Pro bono lawyers play a vital role in expanding access to justice and supporting communities in need. They advise individuals who can’t afford legal representation, assist charities and social enterprises with regulatory and governance matters, and contribute to strategic litigation that drives systemic change. As the legal needs of underserved communities grow more complex, pro bono practice has evolved into a dynamic and collaborative field – often involving cross-border work, partnerships with non-governmental organisations and innovative approaches to deliver legal support.

When Sam Cottman started his career as a trainee at Travers Smith LLP “there weren’t pro bono departments or pro bono partners anywhere in England, so it wasn’t an obvious career path”. Now, Sam is a partner and head of pro bono at Travers Smith, an incredibly rewarding role that allows him to drive change. “I come to work every day with a smile on my face and feel very grateful to do this kind of role, particularly in a commercial law firm.”

Initially, Sam’s work had a litigious focus. While he was interested in a career as a barrister at first, he was drawn to the teamwork element of the solicitor’s profession, focusing on finance, disputes, private equity and competition during his training contract – a standout moment being his international seat in Paris. Once qualified as a disputes lawyer, Sam had the chance to complete two secondments, both of which he earmarks as foundational career moments.

Secondments with lasting impact

On his first secondment, Sam spent 11 months at the Court of Appeal as a judicial assistant to the Lord Chief Justice at the time, Lord Thomas. “I saw a real variety of cases, such as terrorism cases, confidential criminal cases, court-martials and commercial cases.” He notes, “working alongside Lord Thomas was not only humbling and inspiring, but it also showed me that you can use commercial legal skills outside of your remit”.

His second secondment was to the serious fraud office where he worked as a lead investigator on a major multi-billion-pound investigation. “This role exposed me to wonderful investigatory work, and really high profile and pressured live interview scenarios. This gave me the gift of being comfortable when everyone’s uncomfortable, which has been quite useful since then.”  Sam reflects on both his secondments: “As well as making me a better lawyer and giving me more strings to my bow, my secondments, although I didn't realise it at the time, ended up feeding into my ability to take on the role in the pro bono department.”

His time in court during the first secondment also inspired him to qualify as a solicitor advocate, meaning he now has, in Sam’s words, “the best of both worlds”. Day to day, he handles his own court advocacy, while also thriving in the collaborative and leadership aspects that life as a solicitor offers.

Growing the practice

So, what exactly is a pro bono partner? Sam explains that it’s a fairly unique role, with him being “one of the only pro bono partners at a UK law firm”. In 2020, Sam formally began coordinating pro bono work at Travers Smith. Over the past five years, he’s built four key areas of practice: climate, diversity, vulnerable groups and rule of law. “I bring in large projects across climate, diversity, vulnerable groups and rule of law and build teams to deliver those projects according to their expertise and areas of interest.” 

Since then, the practice has quadrupled and “the quality and the impact of the projects has increased”. As the number of projects has grown, Sam must work hard to coordinate case teams and projects. “We've probably got about 450 lawyers across 14 different specialist departments. Therefore, you've got to keep everything moving forward and deliver against deadlines, while looking after the people who are doing the work and the people that you're working for. There’s a human element and there's a deliverable element to pro bono work. It’s about juggling those two aspects.”

In addition to this, Sam works on individual cases. When he was a fee earning lawyer, he specialised in litigation and white-collar crime. As a pro bono lawyer, his “specialism is around vulnerable groups, particularly acting for clients who've experienced domestic abuse, human trafficking and modern slavery victims”. The current climate is always influencing pro bono work. “Pro bono practice is reactive. Over the past five years, a number of significant global events have shaped the direction of this type of work,  including the covid-19 pandemic, the global response to racial injustice following George Floyd’s death, the escalation of armed conflicts and increasing political instability.”

The evolving landscape means priorities fluctuate. For instance, there’s currently a surge in climate-related work, “both around conservation and the development of green tech”. Sam adds: “We also have quite a lot of major racial justice investigations ongoing at the moment as well, while these come in and out of political focus, this will always remain an area in which we’re active.” Sam says, “every day has purpose, we have big goals and make a significant impact”, making it difficult to “pick one case over another in terms of what’s had the biggest effect”. That said, there is one case that springs to mind as a good example of where Sam felt “pro bono work had really changed someone's life”.

“In 2020, we took on a case for a young girl who had had a very difficult history of abuse within the family. She came to us seeking a protective injunction in the civil courts, which we obtained. Her family then asked for support through the criminal process. At this point, we added criminal lawyers to our team and supported them for the next three-and-a-half years through a criminal investigation into the perpetrator of her abuse, which resulted in 15 separate convictions and a 26-year sentence for the perpetrator. Achieving that and sustaining that level of support was a very significant win for us and a game changer for her. We also completed the civil work, the criminal work and brought a compensation claim for her through the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority process. She obtained almost £30,000 in compensation, which has helped her to rebuild her life and move on after what was an incredibly difficult childhood. This case was a sustained pro bono commitment that made a big impact. It’s something I’m very proud of.”

Building national projects

Sam has also had the chance to get involved in building large projects from the ground up. For example, he founded the Domestic Abuse Response Alliance, “which is the largest pro bono project ever put together to respond to domestic abuse needs”. The project, which has taken on over 300 cases, now has 11 law firms that volunteer and take on clients across the country. Through this project and his work at Travers Smith, Sam has made a big impact on many people. He notes that one challenge is that there’s “never enough time, there's always more people that need the help, and organising and delivering that at scale is a huge amount of work”.

For aspiring lawyers drawn to this kind of work, Sam offers some guidance. “If your desire is pure human rights, you may want to become a barrister. If your desire is to work in commercial law but you're also actively interested in social issues, such as access to justice and climate, then I’d suggest you research law firms that have active pro bono teams and could facilitate your opportunities to get involved.”

However, he also notes that, while the work is deeply rewarding, it can take an emotional toll. As pro bono partner, Sam focuses on “managing trauma for clients and also the vicarious trauma for the lawyers themselves”. Besides the core pro bono team, Sam never places lawyers on very difficult cases back to back. “For myself personally, I have a young family who keep me very busy when I'm not working on cases. I try to switch off when I'm with them and I think that works.” He explains that there’s been more focus on mental health in the legal profession over recent years but that there’s still a lot more work to do. Speaking to junior lawyers across the profession, he explains that “working in law, especially commercial law, is demanding”. He adds: “The hours are long and the standards are high. It’s important you focus on your mental health, so you don’t burn yourself out too quickly. You have to look after yourself and enjoy the challenge of the career path.”

With so many moving parts to manage, Sam is always thinking about how to work smarter. He sees AI as a tool with real potential to ease pressure on the justice system: “If AI can cut through the backlog of particularly unrepresented individuals who can't get a lawyer and provide them with assistance, which it's starting to do, that could be a really big win for access to justice.” However, he also notes that AI is creating several challenges, particularly around media and truth. “Knowing what’s true and getting an impartial account of what’s happening globally is going to become increasingly difficult. The media is promoting more extreme views on issues as it sells more papers and generates more clicks.” With this in mind, he urges aspiring lawyers to read sources critically when they’re researching legal matters. “It's important to have conversations across both sides of the table. You’ve got to understand the views held by people you disagree with if you can, and that’s probably the largest missing quality in the world at the moment – people don't want to listen to people that think differently to them or have different experiences.” It’s a challenge that reflects Sam’s day to day – cutting through the noise, managing complex cases and focusing on where the need is greatest. For those starting out, it’s a reminder that legal work is about more than just the law, it’s about people, purpose and perspective.