PRO BONO IN THE NEWS: January 2018

Below you can find articles of interest to the pro bono community that have been published since our last edition. Click through to read any news article in full.

You can also follow the latest news in pro bono from Australia and around the world by following the Centre on Twitter: @AusPBC.

AUSTRALIA

Announcing our new CEO
Justice Connect – 16 January 2018
Justice Connect has announced that Chris Povey is its new CEO.

Social Enterprise Announces $500,000 Funding for Social and Affordable Housing
Pro Bono Australia – 15 January 2018
The Homes for Homes social enterprise (by The Big Issue in Australia) has just released $500,000 of funding for social housing. The legal mechanism was created by Corrs Chambers Westgarth, working pro bono with support from Clayton Utz, Herbert Smith Freehills and MinterEllison. You can read more about the pro bono involved and the innovative legal mechanism created by Corrs, see our story here.

Grad recruitment bolstered with launch of Aus’ ‘first virtual law internship’
Lawyers Weekly – 15 January 2018
King & Wood Mallesons and InsideSherpa have teamed up to offer students a virtual legal internship made up of five modules, including one on pro bono.

Tech-fluency critical for job-readiness
Lawyers Weekly – 8 January 2018
Important research on the need to equip law students in the tech age, by our board director and UNSW Law academic, Professor Michael Legg.

NT justice advocate bestowed human rights award
Lawyers Weekly – 5 January 2018
Congrats to the Indigenous Law Centre’s Russell Goldflam, who has won the 2017 Fitzgerald Justice Award for his commitment to justice for the disadvantaged and vulnerable in the NT and central Australia.

INTERNATIONAL

US: Letter to the Editor: Florida Bar Rule Change Encourages More Pro Bono Service
Daily Business Review – 31 January 2018
A new Florida Bar rule change designed to encourage more pro bono service by retired lawyers has been approved by the Florida Supreme Court and was to be implemented 1 February 2018.

Panama: Panama Signals it will Comply with Landmark LGBT Rights Ruling
Pride Source – 17 January 2018
Panama has signalled it will comply with a recent Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruling recognising same-sex marriage and transgender rights. Gay lawyer Iván Chanis Barahona is working pro bono on a Panama Supreme Court case that could extend marriage rights to same-sex couples.

Employees will stay longer if you involve them in social causes
Quartz – 17 January 2018
Want to make your firm or company attractive to millennials? They’re all about social causes and 97% of them prefer to use their professional work skills to help. That’s why pro bono is the perfect fit.

US: Mobile game helps people act as their own lawyer so they don’t, for example, call the judge ‘dude’
Concord Monitor – 16 January 2018
Check out the combination of Minecraft and South Park aesthetics in this smartphone game, designed to help individuals prepare to represent themselves in court. Novel stuff!

Indonesia: Foreign Lawyer Employment Simplified by Indonesian Government
Indonesia Investments – 15 January 2018
A recent new regulation means foreign lawyers hired by Indonesian law firms must provide pro bono services.

US: 2017 Law Grads Provided $82 Million in Pro Bono Work
Law.com – 5 January 2018
How many hours of pro bono did you do as a law student? How much is it worth? US law students graduating in 2017 logged 3.39+ million hours over the course of their degree – worth almost US$82 million.