Last week’s report by the Law Society on pro bono activity by solicitors was a real credit to the profession.

The study showed that private practice lawyers performed a whopping £475m of pro bono work in 2009/10, up 19% on the previous year.

What was particularly interesting was the breakdown in terms of the types of firm giving the most free advice.

While the big City firms certainly shout the loudest about their pro bono achievements, they are doing a lot less than some of their private practice peers.

The research showed that solicitors in 26-partner plus firms spent the least time on pro bono clients, with an average of 31 hours per year.

In fact, it was the smaller firms, with five to ten partners, which on average dedicated the most hours to pro bono (71), followed by sole practitioners (68 hours).

That sole practitioners and small firms, two sections of the profession that have been hit so hard recently by the tough housing market, increasing professional indemnity insurance costs and other challenges, have been the most generous with their time, is impressive.

The research found that overall, 59% of solicitors had done some pro bono work. That’s a far cry from the popular image of the fat cat lawyer.

However, it was noticeable that only 15% of commerce and industry, and 17% of government lawyers, had undertaken pro bono work.

Given that David Cameron is so keen to capitalise on ‘Big Society’ volunteers, perhaps government should look at ways to encourage its own lawyers to get involved in pro bono.

One final thought, and no doubt one that has been raised before.

Pro bono work is a good news story for the profession, counterbalancing the ‘greedy’ image that much of the public associates with lawyers.

But wouldn’t it be easier to get the message across about how much free advice is being given, if we used a phrase based in English rather than Latin?