Profile: Our new interns, Sheenal and Basim

In this issue the Centre welcomes our new UNSW School of Law Social Justice interns, Sheenal Chandra and Basim Zaidi.

Sheenal is in her final year of a Bachelor of Commerce and Laws at UNSW, with both volunteer and corporate experience. She has personally seen the value of pro bono work undertaken by lawyers, having volunteered at the Toongabbie Legal Centre since March 2014.

Through her volunteering, Sheenal has been exposed to the unfortunate reality that disadvantaged people face various barriers in accessing the justice system, and that an inability to address a minor legal issue can cascade into a range of legal and non-legal problems.

Sheenal strongly believes that all lawyers have an obligation to engage in pro bono work and to support a system that makes legal services readily available to those who need them the most. She has come to volunteer at the Australian Pro Bono Centre to help the Centre promote a strong pro bono culture within the legal profession and  support the provision of pro bono legal services.

Basim is in his final year of a Bachelor of Laws and Science (majoring in Physiology) at UNSW. He is a strong advocate for access to justice and he believes that all officers of the law have a social responsibility to contribute to the creation of an unprejudiced legal system.

Basim has been involved in various volunteer projects. He has acted as a legal researcher and presenter for the Muhammadi Welfare Association and he will soon commence as a High School legal presenter with the Student Legal Education Group. These experiences have garnered in him a personal appreciation of the fact that much of the community do not have adequate access to vital legal information. It is this appreciation that led him to volunteer with the Australian Pro Bono Centre.

Basim comes to the Australian Pro Bono Centre hoping to further develop his legal research skills, and to develop a greater understanding of the issues surrounding the Pro Bono sector. Basim hopes to fulfil his social responsibility as a student of the law and he anticipates applying the skills and interests he develops in his practice in the future.