LawWorks is the registered operating name of the Solicitors Pro Bono Group
Registered Charity No. 1064274
Company Registered by Guarantee No. 3410932
Registered Office: Lawworks Dx 115 50-52 Chancery Lane, London, England, WC2A 1HL
We are committed to being fully accountable and transparent to all our stakeholders.
Our work is guided by our trustees who are responsible for the charity, its assets and activities.
Our trustees
Alasdair Douglas (Chair of the Board of Trustees)
Alasdair practised for 25 years as a partner with Travers Smith, a corporate law firm based in the City of London, retiring as senior partner in 2010. He chaired the representative body for the large commercial firms in the City, the City of London Law Society, from 2011 to 2016. He currently chairs DRD Partnership, a strategic communications and public affairs firm.
He believes that access to justice is one of the fundamental elements of the rule of law, that most lawyers feel the moral imperative to use their legal skills to help provide that access and is strongly committed to LawWorks playing its part in supporting and increasing pro bono efforts by solicitors and law students.
Richard Atkinson (President, The Law Society)
Richard Atkinson is the 180th President of the Law Society of England and Wales, which was established in 1825, almost 200 years ago. The Law Society represents, promotes and supports over 200,000 solicitors.
Richard is a managing partner at Tuckers Solicitors LLP and specialises in criminal law, focusing on serious crime litigation. He is a solicitor advocate and has appeared in several high-profile cases.
With over 30-years’ experience, Richard has served as chair of the Law Society Policy and Regulatory Affairs Committee and is a current member of their Criminal Law Committee.
Rob Lay
Rob retired from the asset management industry after 27 years working for some of the leading firms including JPMorgan, Barings and Fidelity ending his career with Europe wide responsibilities and multiple key client relationships. Wanting to give something back and after personal experiences he is passionate about the work LawWorks undertakes and supports the charity as a Treasurer Trustee. He is also involved with another charity, running the finance committee at Tree of Hope. Rob is, amongst other things, a self taught chef and baker, a junior rugby coach, a sport he retired from recently and obsessive winter sportsman.
Gemma Watts
Gemma Watts is a communications professional with experience in media relations, public affairs and legal services. For nearly ten years, she worked for a specialist communications consultancy, and acted for range of companies, individuals and third sector organisations. She has particular expertise in crisis and litigation communications, and advised on responding to complex challenges such as corporate governance, regulatory change, and multichannel communications.
Currently Gemma manages PR and content for Strutt & Parker, which is one of the largest property consultancies in the UK and is part of BNP Paribas Real Estate. Early in her professional life, she worked in mental health services and spent two years in a consumer support role at the Legal Complaints Service.
Emma Rehal-Wilde
Emma is a Law Lecturer at London South Bank University. Previously she was the Pro Bono Manager for Debevoise & Plimpton in London.
Jamie Goldsmith QC
Jamie is a barrister at One Essex Court. In 2015, he founded Pro Bono Connect, which establishes and operates a network of barristers and solicitors willing to collaborate on pro bono cases in the same way as for paid litigation. The scheme, which was brought under Law Works’ governance in 2020, now has almost 100 participating firms and chambers.
Ian Jeffery
Ian Jeffery joined the Law Society as chief executive in September 2022. He was previously the Managing Partner and CEO of Lewis Silkin. Ian joined Lewis Silkin in 1990 and qualified as a solicitor in 1992. He has extensive experience in information technology and intellectual property law and rose through the ranks quickly, becoming a Partner in 1998 and eventually Managing Partner at the age of 37 in 2005.
He led Lewis Silkin as Managing Partner and CEO for 15 years. During this time, he drove the growth of the firm both domestically and internationally, helping establish a reputation for being one of the most innovative large law firms. Ian has also acted as an independent consultant to law firms, professional services organisations and businesses in the legal tech space. In addition, he has sat on boards across different industry sectors.
Deborah Smith
Deborah is a senior legal director in the Digital Assets legal team at Goldman Sachs International. Prior to joining Goldman in 2012, she worked for 12 years at Linklaters in their London, Paris and Dubai offices. She also serves as co-chair of Goldman EMEA Pro Bono Committee and is a founder of the In House Pro Bono Group – a working group dedicated to sharing knowledge, best practice and resources to build and strengthen in house pro bono services. Deborah also serves as a member of the leadership committee of the Forum for US Securities Lawyers in London.