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Current News


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  • The day lawyers reveal their human side
    14 May 2012 read more >
    True justice comes only when the rights of all are observed and that means jerks need a fair shake, too. There are lawyers who, despite the stereotype, believe this. There are judges who can see past their wigs and into the community. And, once a year, they all go for a walk. It's called, rather fittingly, the Walk for Justice (there are no points, at the bar table, for creativity) and is part of National Law Week.
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  • Global pro bono organisation seeks support
    9 May 2012 read more >
    Bridges Across Borders Southeast Asia Community Legal Education initiative co-founder and director Bruce Lasky - who is in Sydney this week to secure collaborations with the heads of pro bono at a number of Australia's leading law firms - has told Lawyers Weekly that global pro bono work is "catching fire" at the moment.
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  • US: Pro bono as a prerequisite to admission: Where do we go from here?
    7 May 2012 read more >
    by Esther Lardent, president & CEO, Pro Bono Institute
    New York Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman's decision to require 50 hours of pro bono service for admission to the bar was the talk of the legal profession on Law Day. As we await the full plan, great thought and care must go into its implementation.
    3 of 20
  • Centre for Asia-Pacific Pro Bono launches website [media release]
    4 May 2012 read more >
    The Centre for Asia-Pacific Pro Bono (CAPPB) Secretariat is pleased to announce that the CAPPB website is now live! www.cappb.org is now home to all the information Asia-Pacific partners and Australian pro bono providers need to know to request or provide pro bono legal assistance through the CAPPB.
    4 of 20
  • Govt to review $1.3bn legal services
    4 May 2012 read more >
    The government is undertaking a review of its $1.3 billion legal assistance, hiring an independent group to help drive reform. Attorney-General Nicola Roxon has announced the Allen Consulting Group will conduct a major, independent review of Australia's Commonwealth-funded legal assistance services, to be completed by 30 June 2013.
    5 of 20
  • Lawyers putting rights before money
    3 May 2012 read more >
    Turning their backs on the comforts of the commercial world, lawyers with the west's community legal centres are driven by a vision of fairness, basic rights and justice. Benjamin Millar meets the passionate practitioners trying to keep society's most vulnerable from falling through the legal cracks. This year is the 40th anniversary of community legal centres (CLCs) in Australia.
    6 of 20
  • US: Top Judge Makes Free Legal Work Mandatory for Joining New York Bar
    1 May 2012 read more >
    New York will become the first state to require lawyers to perform unpaid work before being licensed to practice, the state's chief judge announced, describing the rule as a way to help the growing number of people who cannot afford legal services. The approximately 10,000 lawyers who apply to the State Bar each year will have to demonstrate that they have performed 50 hours of pro bono work to be admitted.
    7 of 20
  • UK: DLA Piper to recognise pro bono in billing targets
    30 April 2012 read more >
    DLA Piper has rolled out an initiative across its international LLP that will see pro-bono work recorded in exactly the same way as fee-earning hours. The decision, made by the firm's UK management team, will bring the rest of its international LLP in alignment with the US and Australian practices, which have already adopted the practice.
    8 of 20
  • More in-house teams embracing pro bono legal work
    24 April 2012 read more >
    A growing number of in-house legal teams are pitching in and taking on pro bono legal work. In-house managers and lawyers have been able to establish pro bono programs in recent years as a result of changes to practising and insurance rules regarding legal advice. Between 30 Novemeber 2010 and 31 December 2011 the team of 12 lawyers at Perpetual have undertaken 448 hours of pro bono work.
    9 of 20
  • Chief justice blasts ethos of `the billable hour' [requires subscription]
    23 April 2012 read more >
    NSW Chief Justice Tom Bathurst has attacked the nation's largest law firms for their emphasis on commercial success. However Stuart Clark, a senior partner at Clayton Utz, noted "But for the economic strength of the large law firms . . . it would not be possible to do anything like the level of pro bono work that is done in many countries, particularly the US, Australia and other parts of the Commonwealth."
    10 of 20
  • Williams father to challenge tax claim
    20 April 2012 read more >
    THE father of slain gangland figure Carl Williams is preparing a legal challenge to $750,000 in income tax on illicit drug earnings, alleging Victoria Police lawfully paid the bill to the ATO, which initially accepted the payment. Mr Williams said he had legal advice he had a strong case, and was seeking a barrister willing to take it on pro bono.
    11 of 20
  • Victoria frees up corporates to go pro bono
    10 April 2012 read more >
    Victoria's 2,700 in-house lawyers can now undertake pro-bono legal work in the same way as their in-house counterparts in New South Wales and Queensland. The new bill amends what John Corker, director of the National Pro Bono Resource Centre, called a 'legislative hitch' in the Legal Profession Act 2004, which prevented holders of corporate practising certificates from engaging in pro-bono work.
    12 of 20
  • Pro Bono: In pursuit of a fair trial
    7 April 2012 read more >
    The international reach of Australia's pro bono assistance continues to expand, with pro bono lawyers at DLA Piper & the Human Rights Law Centre & Victorian barristers Peter Morrissey, Julian McMahon, Ruth Shann & Phoebe Knowles helping an Australian man who was convicted of murder in Bulgaria in 2009 to lodge an application with the European Court of Human Rights.
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  • Legislation Passed to Allow Free Legal Services to Victorian Community
    5 April 2012 read more >
    The Victorian State Government has passed legislation which will allow in-house lawyers to undertake pro bono legal work in the same way as their private practice counterparts and in-house lawyers in other parts of Australia. The Legal Profession and Public Notaries Amendment Bill 2012 was passed by the Victorian Parliament on March 27.
    14 of 20
  • Legal services to chase children
    30 March 2012 read more >
    A new national legal service has been launched to provide free legal assistance to Australian parents dealing with the international abduction of a child. Attorney-General, Nicola Roxon said the service would provide practical support to parents in distressing circumstances, and would complement the counselling and mediation service already provided by International Social Services (ISS) Australia.
    15 of 20
  • UK: Pro bono - are lawyers leading the way?
    29 March 2012 read more >
    One of the first things that struck me when I started working as a caseworker at LawWorks was the scale of the volunteer work done by lawyers. But I was unwilling to accept that these lawyers did it just out of the goodness of their hearts. Well, it's probably true that pro bono lawyers fall into two categories: those that do the exciting test cases, and those that take on the 'mundane' cases.
    16 of 20
  • New Research & Advocacy Tool Launching at ACOSS Conference
    29 March 2012 read more >
    A searchable directory of over 500 reports and submissions relating to social need in Australia, created by the National Pro Bono Resource Centre in collaboration with the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS), is being unveiled in Sydney today at the ACOSS National Conference, where hundreds of welfare sector experts have gathered.
    17 of 20
  • Study outlines options for overcrowded legal groups
    28 March 2012 read more >
    An ACT Government study has agreed the overcrowded, decades-old former hostel Havelock House housing Canberra's community legal centres isn't good enough. The centres have said there's no space to hold meetings, educational activities or forums and have complained of quarters so cramped they've been forced to turn away lawyers offering pro bono help.
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  • Aboriginal legal services has new leader
    23 March 2012 read more >
    The national body representing Aboriginal legal services has hired a new head. The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services (NATSILS) yesterday announced Priscilla Collins as its new deputy chair. "[Collins] is the CEO of the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency. Her expertise in Aboriginal Legal Services makes her an invaluable member of the NATSILS", said acting chair Gerry Moore.
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  • Victoria to seek legal advice on human rights
    14 March 2012 read more >
    The Law Institute of Victoria today enthusiastically welcomed what it said was the Government's decision to retain Victoria's Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities. LIV president Michael Holcroft said it appeared that the Government had listened to the overwhelming evidence provided to support the benefits of the Charter for all Victorians.
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Victorian in-house lawyers now allowed to undertake pro bono work

5 April 2012

The National Pro Bono Resource Centre welcomes the passing of legislation in Victoria which will allow in-house lawyers to undertake pro bono legal work in the same way as their private practice counterparts and in-house lawyers in other parts of the Australia.

read more >

 

New Research & Advocacy Tool Launched at ACOSS Conference

29 March 2012

An easily navigable and searchable directory of over 500 reports and submissions relating to social need in Australia has been created by the National Pro Bono Resource Centre in collaboration with the Australian Council of Social Service and is now available at www.socialneeds.net.au. It will be launched today at the ACOSS National Conference in Sydney.

read more >

 

Fourth Target Report: Pro Bono Contribution Steady

5 October 2011

The Fourth Performance Report on the National Pro Bono Aspirational Target was released today, showing that an average of 39.8 hours of pro bono work was undertaken in the last financial year by lawyers who have signed up.

 

The Target has seen a growth in the number of signatories from 58 to 66 at the end of the last financial year and now covers approximately 5,900 lawyers across Australia or 11 percent of the Australian legal profession. Solicitors, Barristers and Law Firms can find more information on the Target or sign up here.

read more >

 

Report calls for increased role of legal community in disaster planning

23 August 2011

The National Pro Bono Resource Centre has released its research report Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Planning for the Legal Profession in Australia which is endorsed by the Law Council of Australia, and includes a step by step guide on how to create a disaster response plan.

 

The report calls on Australia’s state and territory legal communities to adopt disaster response plans to deal with emergencies such as those which decimated parts of Queensland and Victoria earlier this year. A media release can be found here.
 

read more >

 

Social Justice Opportunities

8 August 2011

The National Pro Bono Resource Centre and the Australian Law Students' Association today launched Social Justice Opportunities - A Career Guide for Law Students and New Lawyers, which provides practical information on how students and new lawyers can get involved in volunteering and careers in social justice throughout their career. Contact the Centre for a hard copy or download the PDF and visit the accompanying website at www.sjopps.net.au.

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Commonwealth tightens pro bono reporting template

1 July 2011

The Office of Legal Services Coordination has tightened the template for reporting its pro bono work by asking firms to report only on the amount of pro bono legal work done in the past 12 months and whether they are a signatory to the National Pro Bono Aspirational Target. The Department states that these changes will facilitate more accurate and meaningful reports.

read more >

 

Law Students Want More Social Justice Opportunities

13 May 2011

The Australian Law Students Association (ALSA) and the Centre are teaming up with Young Lawyers’ committees around the country to produce a guide for law students and young lawyers on the social justice opportunities available to them during their career as a lawyer, including CLE, employment, pro bono and volunteering.

 

This guide will be launched at the national ALSA Clayton Utz Conference to be held at UNSW from 8-14 July 2011.

read more >

 

Walk for Justice on National Pro Bono Day 2011

28 April 2011

Walk for JusticeNow is the time to get your walking teams together for this year’s Walk for Justice. The Walk will take place in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney and Townsville on Monday 16 May 2011 starting at 7 or 7.30 am.
 
The Walk for Justice is the opening event for National Law Week that runs from 16-20 May 2011. The Walk for Justice is a fundraiser for the important work that pro bono clearing houses do in these cities.
 

Register now to walk in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Sydney, or Townsville.

read more >

 

Queensland Flood and Cyclone Legal Help Springs into Action

18 February 2011

 

Key Queensland legal organisations have worked together to establish the clearly branded “Flood and Cyclone Legal Help” pro bono legal response to assist disadvantaged Queenslanders affected by the floods and cyclones Anthony and Yasi.
 
The Flood and Cyclone Legal Help response is a collaborative effort of QLAF members: Legal Aid Queensland, Queensland Law Society, the Bar Association of Queensland, QAILS, ATSILS (QLD), and QPILCH.

read more >

 

Survey of Large Law Firms Highlights Areas of Unmet Legal Need

8 December 2010

Employment law and applications for Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) tax status are areas of practice where pro bono assistance is widely provided, but also where requests for assistance are often refused, according to the Final Report on the National Law Firm Pro Bono Survey 2010. The Report also reveals that the amount of pro bono undertaken by large law firms has increased despite cuts in lawyer numbers due to the GFC.

read more >

 

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National Pro Bono News: Issue 72 (May 2012)
socialneeds.net.au - a research and advocacy tool
Occasional Paper #1: What is Social Justice
Alternative Dispute Resolution and the Possible Role of Pro Bono Lawyers
National Pro Bono PI Insurance Scheme
Pro Bono Manual
Social Needs Directory
Social Justice Opportunities
Aspirational Target
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