The first time I worked through the night was during the secondary banking crisis in the early 1970s. The next was 17 January, 1981, the night before the hostages in the US Embassy in Tehran were released. These were not routine events.

Today, working through the night, even on routine transactions, is commonplace. The pressures on the City solicitor have never been greater. How on earth one combines the demands of one's profession with ordinary family life, let alone modern expectations of parenthood, I do not know.

I have, therefore, been delighted, but also slightly surprised, during my presidency of the International Bar Association (IBA), to find how much interest is being shown by UK firms in pro bono legal work. Much of this is, naturally, in local, domestic work, but there seems also to be an increasing interest in international pro bono work.

Bringing together the international law firms that want to undertake more international pro bono work, and the bar associations whose legal systems would benefit from this help, is one of the objectives of the IBA's Rule of Law Movement.

The movement - a natural progression of the IBA's work in this regard - began with a resolution that was passed by the IBA's council in September 2005.

This declared the Council's concern at the erosion of the rule of law around the world, listed some of the essential characteristics of the rule of law, and called upon all IBA members to promote the Rule of Law within their communities.

In countries such as Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Nepal, where the Rule of Law is under question, the IBA has sent missions to assess the situation and assist. We work consistently with local and other world bodies to advance the rule of law.

Examples include the establishment of the Southern African Litigation Centre; human rights and humanitarian law training in Iraq, Palestine and Pakistan; and setting up a Bar association in Afghanistan.

We are now seeking to mobilise further the world's legal profession in support of the rule of law. Most successful lawyers are kept so busy by their clients that it is hard to see what more they can do, yet the increasing interest in pro bono work suggests that there is a recognition that more must be done. Noone is better equipped both to explain and to enhance the value of the rule of law; indeed, if we lawyers do not do it, who will?

The rule of law provides us with a good living - the least we can do is to give some of that back to the system which provided it.

Nor should we be shy to proclaim its virtues. The rule of law is the only system so far devised to provide independent, impartial control of the power of the state. That alone is sufficient to demonstrate its supreme value.

Why do so many people from other countries want to enter the UK? Why do so many countries want to join the European Union (EU)? Not just because we are rich, but because we have the rule of law. If you lived in a country lacking the rule of law, wouldn't you want to come to the UK and/or join the EU?

We have something precious which we must preserve and offer to others. At the IBA's conference in Chicago, there will be a session on 20 September at which different approaches to international pro bono work will be examined.

By then, I also hope that we will have developed further our plans to enhance the opportunities for the legal profession to carry out this valuable work.

Francis Neate is president of the International Bar Association and of counsel at Kirkland & Ellis.