PRO BONO IN THE NEWS: September 2017

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

Lawyers bump dedicated pro bono hours up 4.5%
Lawyers Weekly – 29 September 2017
Coverage of the figures in our 10^th Annual Target Performance Report.

New Legal Services Commissioner Appointed
Victorian Government – 19 September 2017
The Andrews Labor Government announced the appointment of Fiona McLeay – currently CEO of Justice Connect – as Victoria’s new Legal Services Commissioner. She will begin in the role on 8 January 2018.

Millions of Australians frozen out of the justice system
In Daily – 17 September 2017
President-elect of the Law Council of Australia, Morry Bailes, on the need to improve access to justice for regional, rural and remote (RRR) Australia.

Uniform Legal Services Commissioner appointed
Justice NSW – 14 September 2017
Megan Pitt, former Director of the Australian Government Solicitor’s Sydney Office, will be appointed the new Commissioner for Uniform Legal Services Regulation and Chief Executive Officer of the Legal Services Council.

Aussie lawyers take up cause for 19 Nauruan protestors
Lawyers Weekly – 14 September 2017
Australian lawyers representing a group of Nauruan citizens charged with offences relating to a pro-democracy protest in 2015 have appealed for donations to help with the escalating costs of their pro bono legal services.

Qld legal centres increasingly self-generate funds
Australasian Lawyer – 13 September 2017
Budget constraints are leading Queensland CLCs to spend increasing amounts of time on fundraising for their own operations.

Filling the Service Gaps That People Keep Falling Through
Pro Bono Australia – 5 September 2017
Health Justice Partnerships celebrated its anniversary in September and CEO Dr Tessa Boyd-Caine share about how the work is making a real difference in the lives of individuals.

INTERNATIONAL

UK: Law Society offers pro bono support after terror attack
Solicitors Journal – 19 September 2017
More tragedy in the UK after the Parsons Green attack but yet again The Law Society and lawyers have stepped up to advise anyone affected, on a pro bono basis.

US: Thousands of DACA recipients are scrambling to make the Trump administration’s ‘unworkable and cruel’ deadline
Public Radio International – 15 September 2017
Thousands of lawyers are rushing to provide pro bono legal assistance to immigrants left vulnerable by the end of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program in the US. 

UK: First safe house for LGBTI refugees
Thomson Reuters Foundation – 14 September 2017
LGBTI activists and pro bono lawyers teamed up to open the first safe house for LGBTI refugees in the UK.

Canada: Daphne Bramham: The price of DIY law is too high for everybody
Vancouver Sun – 12 September 2017
An op-ed about the problems with self-representation and how this impacts access to justice in Canada.

US: Lawyers offering help to Hurricane Harvey victims include 1,600 volunteers from across the nation
ABA Journal – 6 September 2017
Lawyers from legal-aid organizations and law firms have been working shifts at Texas shelters to offer free help for Hurricane Harvey victims, while at least 1,600 lawyers from across the nation have filled out a state bar form to offer their volunteer help.