PRO BONO OR FOR FREE?

Geoffrey Robertson QC, when he said he would be happy to act, if not for free then at least pro bono, explained that ‘pro bono’ did not literally mean ‘free of charge’, as it has come to mean, but actually means ‘for the greater good’. He continued ‘It’s the display of that quality the ancients called ‘virtue’ … however I doubt that changing the name of the Bar Pro Bono Unit to the Unit for Barristers of Easy Virtue would be a popular improvement’.