No protection against costs in pro bono cases

Volunteer barristers do not charge clients for the work that they do. However, in certain cases someone on the other side of the case can and does ask for an order that their own legal costs be paid by the client of the volunteer barrister. That may be when the client has lost the case, but it can also happen for example if the client has lost a part of the case. That the client has had a volunteer barrister will not mean that such an order cannot be made. If such an order is made, the involvement of a volunteer barrister wil not prevent the order being enforced.