Delivering impact through pro bono

Expanding our client collaborations on Access to Justice projects: Windrush

In April 2021, Charles Russell Speechlys joined forces with the Greater Manchester Immigration Aid Unit (GMIAU) and seven leading law firms to establish the ‘Windrush Legal Initiative’. Through this initiative, our lawyers have provided pro bono assistance to clients seeking to claim compensation through the Home Office’s Windrush Compensation Scheme. To date, the Initiative has recovered over £800,000 in compensation for clients.

Grant Thornton

In June 2023, we launched an innovative collaboration with Grant Thornton’s forensic accountancy team as part of the Windrush Initiative. The team has been providing expert forensic accountancy guidance on a pilot case with Charles Russell Speechlys, and in February 2024, we expanded Grant Thornton’s role, with Grant Thornton now assisting a team from another participating firm, rendering their participation in the project truly collaborative.

Nova Wealth

We are piloting a further innovation to the Initiative with client Nova Wealth. Through the collaboration which launched in February 2025, Nova Wealth will provide financial guidance to certain clients who have been successful in securing financial compensation under the UK Government Windrush Compensation Scheme.

We are really pleased to have joined forces with GMIAU. It's a privilege to be a part of such a fantastic, collaborative project and we look forward to sharing our skills to assist some of GMIAU’s clients that have succeeded in securing financial compensation”.

Dan Burrows

Partner, Nova Wealth

These collaborations underscore our dedication to providing comprehensive support to those affected by the Windrush scandal.

Growing and diversifying our pro bono practice

In the last year we have strengthened our efforts to grow and diversify our pro bono practice. We have both increased our aspirations for the number of pro bono hours our lawyers will perform and boosted opportunities for all of our lawyers to participate.

Following a successful pilot in the latter half of financial year 23/24, during which our average pro bono hours exceeded the pilot KPI, and 43% of UK lawyers participated in pro bono work, we set a KPI of 12.5 pro bono hours (average) per fee earner for the financial year 24/25.

To enable our lawyers to perform more pro bono work and reach that target, we have added to our Access to Justice projects and clinics, and increased the number of pro bono advisory matters and cases which we onboard. We have expanded participation in the KIND project and launched both the Schools Consent Project and participation in the RCJ Advice Civil Procedure Clinic.

Free legal advice and representation for undocumented children

The month of October 2023 marked the launch of a new pro bono Access to Justice Project at Charles Russell Speechlys, with Kids in Need of Defense (KIND).

KIND offers free legal advice and representation to undocumented children and young people via its partnerships with lawyers and law firms across the country. At time of writing, there are 215,000 undocumented children living in the UK. Some of these children are British but unable to prove it and have lived in the UK all or most of their lives. Others are victims of trafficking or exploitation or have fled from war. In 2013, the UK government slashed the scope of legal aid, making it unavailable to these children. Legal advice charities lack the funds and capacity to help many of these children in need.

In the first 12 months of the project, our lawyers partnered with the Central England Law Centre (CELC) to provide end-to-end pro bono assistance to 22 undocumented children with their applications for citizenship and leave to remain in the UK.

Full training, supervision and support has been provided by our dedicated expert solicitor from CELC, Anab Nur, to help us with the cases along the way.

Children with unresolved status face many barriers in exercising their rights and are vulnerable to poverty, homelessness and even exploitation and abuse. Becoming documented is life changing for a child or young person. It ends the risk of being torn from their family and home or being deported to a country they do not know. They can then access work, higher education and various opportunities freely when they are adults. It has been a pleasure working with the teams at Charles Russell Speechlys."

Anab Nur Immigration Solicitor, CELC

Since Charles Russell Speechlys joined forces with KIND, we have trained 71 lawyers from a range of practice groups (Real Estate, Banking & Finance, Construction, Immigration, Commercial Dispute Resolution, UK and International Private Client, Family, Corporate, Tax, Employment, and IP).

We are gratified to see X's citizenship application conclude successfully. It reflects our commitment to providing precise and effective legal support through the KIND project. This outcome not only benefits X and his family but also underscores the value of professional guidance in such matters. We look forward to continuing our work in assisting individuals with their legal needs in a straightforward and impactful way."

Charles Russell Speechlys currently has a 100% success rate in our KIND cases, demonstrating the strong legal basis underlying these children’s applications for citizenship and leave to remain. We are proud to be able to assist them to exercise their rights. We are committed to helping children and young people who might not otherwise be able to access legal representation and are proud to play a small part in enhancing their future opportunities in the UK.

Preventing sexual offending through legal education in schools

In June 2024, we added to our roster of Access to Justice projects by joining the Schools Consent Project (SCP). SCP is a charity which aims to address the alarming prevalence of sexual violence and harassment among young people through legal education.

Our lawyers are trained to deliver workshops in schools, starting a dialogue with them about these issues and educating them about the law on consent and sexual offences. The workshops aim to normalise conversations about consent, and promote healthy and respectful interactions among teenagers and young adults.

SCP was founded by criminal barrister Kate Parker, who says: “One in every three women experiences sexual violence in her lifetime and nearly 90% of girls have been sent unwanted sexually explicit content. We want to give young people an ability to identify their boundaries and the boundaries in others, to understand the harms of sexually abusive behaviour, and to feel confident about speaking up. Our lawyer-led workshops explore the legal definition of consent, the age of consent, key sexual offences, online offences, and how to check for and communicate consent."

It has been a pleasure welcoming Charles Russell Speechlys lawyers to the project,” she adds. “Our work would not be possible without our partner corporates and law firms, whose first-class legal volunteers and financial support enable us to significantly further our reach in schools."

Kate Parker Founder of SCP

In the first six months of the project, 30 of our lawyers have been trained. Robin Grove, a Partner in our Real Estate team and Divisional Managing Partner for our Construction, Real Estate and Disputes division, was the first to run a workshop in a local school. He says,

I am proud to be supporting our new pro bono project partner, the Schools Consent Project (SCP). To start with I was well out of my comfort zone but I was really inspired by how the class responded and clearly valued receiving the information. It’s really satisfying to be part of a team that is helping young people better understand these important issues and avoid the many ways getting it wrong can cause harm. It was also a great professional challenge to present in front of such a different audience, and I feel so much more confident going into my next presentation. I would definitely recommend getting involved!”

Our pro bono work is more than a commitment—it is a reflection of our values and our dedication to making a tangible difference in society. We are proud of the strides we have made this year and remain steadfast in our mission to provide access to justice for those who need it most.

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