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20 years ago I failed to persuade my colleagues on the Law Society’s pro bono working party to recommend a levy on high- earning lawyers to supplement public funding. The working party did however accept a compromise: it urged the Society to establish a voluntary fund. When the proposal was put to the big City firms, they turned it down. The Law Society dropped it. The Labour party later supported a compulsory levy but also dropped it on entering government in 1997.
