First annual performance report of the Framework for Collaborative Pro Bono in Aotearoa
This report covers pro bono legal work undertaken by participating firms during the 2025 calendar year (1 January to 31 December 2025), as reported to the New Zealand Law Society in early 2026.
The Framework encourages participating firms to work to an aspirational target of 25 hours of pro bono legal work per fee earner per year (averaged across the participating firm’s FTE fee earners).
In 2025, participating firms reported an average of almost 28 pro bono hours per full-time equivalent lawyer across the Framework. This exceeds the Framework’s aspirational target of 25 hours per FTE and reflects a strong collective commitment to pro bono engagement. It is important, however, that this result is understood in context. The Framework’s inaugural cohort comprises six firms, each of which has an established pro bono practice and/ or placed a deliberate focus on active pro bono engagement throughout the 2025 calendar year. The relatively small sample size means the data is more susceptible to year-on-year variation.
The Framework for Collaborative Pro Bono: Expanding Access to Justice in New Zealand is supported by the New Zealand Law Society Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa. We express our thanks to the New Zealand Law Society for its assistance with data collection and reporting.
Further reading
2025 Corporate Pro Bono Challenge® Report: In-House Pro Bono by the Numbers
