Armies of corporate employees brandishing paint brushes and shovels have become a common feature of the UK corporate landscape, publicly suggesting that, far from being motivated solely by profits, their employers are also good corporate citizens.
While in-house lawyers are no less inclined than other employees to don their overalls, traditionally there has been little opportunity for them to use their legal skills for the common good. Law Society rules prohibiting in-house lawyers from working for more than one client – their company – prevented in-house lawyers from jumping on the pro bono bandwagon so popular in private practice.
