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25 August 2010
Large Australian law firms have continued their strong commitment to pro bono legal work, despite the significant economic pressures of the past two years. Those large firms who are signatories to the National Pro Bono Aspirational Target generally have performed more pro bono work for disadvantaged people and community non-profit organisations, than those firms who have not yet signed the Target.
The findings come from the Interim Report on the National Law Firm Pro Bono Survey and the Third National Pro Bono Aspirational Target Report, launched today for the National Access to Justice and Pro Bono Conference 2010 being held in Brisbane from 26-27 August 2010.
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28 June 2010
Legal professionals that provide international pro bono legal assistance may be able to recover some of the costs they incur in providing pro bono services in developing countries following the launch of an International Pro Bono Disbursement Assistance Fund (Fund) by the Attorney-General Robert McClelland today.
The Fund aims to encourage Australian law firms and barristers to provide free legal assistance in developing countries by providing them with financial assistance to help meet the costs of travel, accommodation and insurance.
The Centre is administering the Fund, which will help reduce the financial barriers faced by law firms and barristers wanting to improve access to justice through pro bono legal work in developing countries. More information, including guidelines and application forms, can be found here.
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2 June 2010
The consultation draft of the Legal Profession National Law provides for a free or low cost volunteer practising certificate at community legal services but has missed the opportunity to provide a practising certificate that authorises in-house corporate lawyers to develop their own pro bono projects.
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18 May 2010
On National Pro Bono Day over 1,400 participants in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Adelaide, undertook a 3 - 5 km Walk for Justice past key city legal landmarks to raise awareness of unmet legal need in the community and raise funds to support the work of the pro bono clearing houses in each State and Territory.
CLICK HERE TO SEE PHOTOS FROM MELBOURNE, SYDNEY, ADELAIDE AND BRISBANE.
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28 April 2010
The 3rd National Access to Justice and Pro Bono Conference will bring together lawyers, policy makers, academics and law students on 27 – 28 August 2010 at the Sebel Citigate, Brisbane.
The conference will cover key issues in the area of access to justice including the case for funding the legal assistance sector, identification of gaps in legal need and improving coordination across the sector.
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24 February 2010
The Centre today released its research report into engaging retired, retiring and career break lawyers in pro bono. It recommends free practising certificates, better information collection by professional associations and a review of disbursement assistance schemes.
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9 December 2009
The Report of the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Commitee on Access to Justice was released yesterday. The Commitee recommends that state/territory governments and legal professional associations throughout Australia should take such steps as are necessary to support pro bono development including promoting the National Pro Bono Aspirational Target Scheme.
The Centre was unfortunately misquoted in the report as suggesting that all classes of practising certificate should have a mandatory pro bono legal requirement. The Centre did not say this and does not support this recommendation. See Centre's Media Release for more detail..
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2 October 2009
The Second Performance Report on the National Pro Bono Aspirational Target (“Target") released today shows an average of 41.9 hours of pro bono work was done in the last financial year by lawyers who have signed up to the Target up from 39.8 hours per lawyer, reported last year.
The seven law firm signatories with more than 100 lawyers who met the Target averaged 45.2 hours per lawyer per annum and jointly provided almost 180,000 hours of pro bono work last year.
The numbers of signatories has risen considerably. TheTarget now covers approximately 5,700 lawyers across Australia, up from 2,900 last year.
To download report and media release..
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3 August 2009
Pro Bono Practices Guide – A national guide to the pro bono practices of 30 Australian law firms”, a joint publication of the National Pro Bono Resource Centre and NSW Young Lawyers was launched at the Australian Law Students Association’s Annual Conference in Brisbane on 17 July 2009 by the Honourable Justice Roslyn Atkinson of the Queensland Supreme Court.
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2 July 2009
South Australia's new pro bono legal assistance centre, JusticeNet SA, was launched by Federal Court judge, the Hon. Justice Mansfield, on 2 July at the University of Adelaide's Moot Court. For full story and photos click here.
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