2.    REPORT: Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Response Plan for the Legal Profession

3.    PROFILE: Profile of a Mid-Tier Pro Bono Practice

4.    REPORT: Racial Discrimination vs. Free Speech Test Case Being Run Pro Bono

5.    INTERNATIONAL: NZ Law Firm Represents CLCs in Renegotiation of Funding Agreement

6.    LAUNCH: Macquarie University Law Students Muscle Up For Pro Bono

7.    LAUNCH: Lawstuff Relaunches

8.    JOBS: The Aboriginal Legal Service of WA seeks a Managing Lawyer for its Civil and Human Rights Unit

9.    PRO BONO IN THE NEWS: FEBRUARY – APRIL 2011

Now is the time to get your walking team together for this year’s Walk for Justice. The Walk will take place in Brisbane, Townsville, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide on Monday 16 May 2011 starting at about 7.30 am. It’s a great opportunity to catch up with others and start the week on a healthy note.

The Walk is now in its fourth year and the number of walkers has increased every year. It is the opening event of National Law Week. Monday 16 May is also National Pro Bono Day and members of the legal profession are encouraged to think of activities that they can do to raise the visibility of their pro bono legal work on this day.

Importantly it is a fundraiser for the work of pro bono clearing houses. The focus this year is on raising money to cover disbursements associated with delivering pro bono legal services such as interpreter’s fees, filing fees, cost of expert’s reports, travel and accommodation for regional and remote area work.

The Lead Walkers of the Melbourne Walk include:

• Robert Clark MP, Attorney-General and Minister for Finance
• The Honourable Michael Rozenes QC, Chief Justice of County Court of Victoria
• The Honourable Martin Pakula, Shadow Attorney-General
• Mark Moshinksy SC, Chair Victorian Bar Council
• Bevan Warner, Managing Director, Victoria Legal Aid
• The Honourable PD Cummins, Victoria Law Foundation

Other cities and towns are encouraged to organise a Walk for Justice in their town. Contact the Centre if you want to organise the Walk in your town. Plenty of support materials exist.

Register now to walk in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, and Adelaide.

 

In light of the recent disasters in Australia and overseas, the National Pro Bono Resource Centre has developed a resource to assist the Australian legal profession in each State and Territory to prepare a disaster response plan in readiness for any disasters occurring in their jurisdiction. It consists of a research paper and a guide to preparation of a disaster response plan.

In preparing this resource, the Centre has drawn on the experience of those who organised and delivered legal assistance in response to the 2009 bushfires in Victoria, and the more recent flood and cyclone emergencies in Queensland and fires in Western Australia.

The key recommendations contained in the paper are:

1. That the Commonwealth, and each State and Territory, formally recognise that a response by the legal profession to the aftermath of a disaster is an essential part of the Emergency Response.

2. That the legal community in each State and Territory should develop an Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Plan that sets out the roles of the key organisations involved in responding to a disaster, particularly Legal Aid, the State or Territory Law Society, the pro bono clearing house, law firms with developed pro bono practices and Community Legal Centres.

3. That the organisations that subscribe to any Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Plan be prepared to undertake their agreed role in the event of a disaster.

Some of the key issues which have been identified through the Centre’s research are:

• Having a clearly branded unified legal assistance response and a well organised plan is important for both the people who have been affected by the disaster seeking information and assistance, and also for lawyers who want to help.
• Those affected by a disaster need an easily recognisable and accessible way to find legal information and assistance. This is best achieved by providing one hotline number, and one website containing relevant factsheets and links to contacts.
• The type and extent of the legal need should be assessed early on, so that appropriate resources can be marshalled to meet the actual needs that arise at different stages. Much of this can be anticipated based on experience. Those lawyers who volunteered at recovery centres indicated that there were a relatively small number of persons seeking legal assistance in the early stage. Common issues in the immediate aftermath of a disaster involved loss of key documents, and how to respond to employment and tenancy obligations. Other legal issues such as those involving estates, property and insurance claims have peaked at a later stage, some months after the disaster.
• The issue of managing large numbers of lawyers who want to help with the relief effort has presented a challenge for those coordinating the response. Those involved believe that the focus should be on ensuring that the response is appropriate to meet the legal needs of those affected by the disaster, rather than recruiting volunteers to provide short term assistance.
• It may be better for the legal profession to focus its efforts on boosting the capacity of existing legal advice and referral mechanisms which will deal with the influx of cases arising from the disaster in the mid to longer term. This may also involve organising clinics and/or ‘legal information/advice roadshows’ that address particular legal needs in an affected community.
• For the lawyers who want to help with the relief effort, having a clearly established and agreed plan will help to manage their expectations, and to understand and decide the best way they can contribute their services within the framework of a coordinated disaster response.

The Centre will be releasing the final version of the resource shortly. If you would like to comment on a copy of the draft, please contact the Centre.

Maddocks is a mid tier commercial law firm of about 400 people, 300 in Melbourne and 100 in its Sydney office.  It has 54 partners nationally and a productive pro bono scheme.

The firm has provided pro bono services for most of its 125 year history.  Presently, the pro bono scheme is coordinated by a national committee led by partners, Paul Woods (Victoria) and Peter Meades (New South Wales) who both have busy commercial practices. 

The pro bono scheme operates across all of the firm’s areas of practice. Clients are assisted with respect to corporate governance, commercial, tax and structuring advice, DGR applications, industrial relations, FOI as well as contract, property and estate disputes as well as complex and sensitive complaints and decision review processes. 

Paul Woods says the participation rate of lawyers across the firm is good, and constantly improving.  Last year the firm averaged about 19 hours of pro bono legal work per full-time equivalent lawyer, and expects to improve on that figure this year.  The firm encourages all lawyers to become involved in pro bono work.  Maddocks provides full billable credits to its lawyers for their pro bono work.

Maddocks is an active member of PILCH in Victoria and is grateful for the support that PILCH provides. Woods says, “We work closely with PILCH and other referral organisations to ensure that the needs of our pro bono clients are met quickly and professionally. Our lawyers have assisted community and not-for-profit organisations such as the Mental Health Legal Centre, Kids Under Cover and the Victorian Women’s Housing Association, as well as a number of individuals who could not otherwise afford access to justice.”

Maddocks fosters the involvement of its new lawyers in the pro bono scheme, viewing it as providing excellent experience in their development.  Many of its lawyers have developed their skills in advocacy through the pro bono program, such as through client work for the Mental Health Legal Centre.

Maddocks’ pro bono program is supplemented by the Maddocks Foundation that provides annual grants to Australian charitable organisations to support projects and programs in communities where they conduct their business. Grants are awarded by the Maddocks Foundation in June each year in the following five priority areas:

• General and Mental Health and Medical Research
• Welfare and Human Rights
• Environment and Energy
• Family and Local Communities
• Disaster and Emergency Relief

More than 50% of the total number of lawyers in the firm have worked on pro bono matters since July 2011. Woods says “We’d like to increase that figure to 75% in the short term, but our aim is to have all lawyers and support staff involved in some form of pro bono or charitable work each year.”

Decision has been reserved in the case of Pat Eatock v Andrew Bolt and the Herald And Weekly Times under the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 after two weeks of hearings in the Federal Court in Melbourne.

The case has been generating substantial publicity that seems to be far from over.  What the news articles omit to say is that all the legal services for the applicants have been provided without charge to the applicants, and that includes senior counsel Ron Merkel QC, Herman Borenstein SC, supported by junior counsel, Claire Harris and Phoebe Knowles and the services of Holding Redlich as solicitor on the record.

At issue is whether certain articles written by Bolt, that named a number of light-skinned Aboriginal people, and allegedly suggested that they had claimed one element of their mixed heritage background so as to confer certain financial and career benefits on themselves had breached s. 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 by expressing views about them “because of [their] race, colour and/or ethnic origin”.

Holding Redlich have been working on the matter since May 2009 when the case was brought forward to the firm by an Indigenous graduate who has since left the firm.  Lawyers Joel Zyngier and Natalie Dalpethado from Holding Redlich have put in a lot of the work on the matter recently, working closely with counsel.

Holding Redlich national pro bono coordinator Linda Rubinstein said, “The lawyers and applicants in this case are all acting entirely in the public interest. This is not an action seeking damages but it does raise very important issues about the protection of racial minorities from discrimination and the way in which legitimate social issues can be discussed”.

Holding Redlich has also just launched another piece of public interest litigation in a acting for three parents on behalf of their children in a complaint to the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission against the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Education.  The complaint alleges that the children are discriminated against on the basis of their parents’ religious beliefs. The children’s schools provide Special Religious Instruction (SRI) on an “opt-out” basis, with those children whose parents opt out being given no alternative instruction or meaningful activity, leaving them feeling segregated, bored and embarrassed.

The plaintiffs are seeking orders either that SRI be provided outside school hours, or that it be on an “opt-in” basis and with a secular alternative offered for those children who do not attend.

Bell Gully is a leading NZ law firm with 147 FTE lawyers and 47 partners as at 31 December 2010. When it came time for New Zealand’s 26 Community Law Centres (CLCs) to re-negotiate their funding agreements with the NZ Legal Services Agency, Bell Gully agreed to represent them all and spent 500 pro bono hours doing so. CLCs were delighted with the outcome in that it provided ‘greater certainty, clarity and national alignment’ for them. In a ‘thank you certificate’ they indicated that they would not have been able to achieve their desired outcome without the expert guidance, sage advice and unwavering commitment of the Bell Gully lawyers.

Bell Gully lawyers undertook a total of 2627 pro bono legal hours in the 2010/2011 which equates to 17.87 hours per FTE lawyer for the year. The participation rate amongst all their lawyers was 62% with 43% of partners participating.

More details of their pro bono and community program can be found in their recently released report available for download from their website.

Macquarie University Students for Community Legal Engagement (MUSCLE) have embarked on a program that seeks to educate their law students about the opportunities and advantages of being involved in experiences that seek to improve social justice. 

Their first event was held on 25 March and was attended by over 50 students, all interested in meeting and talking to the presenters from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), Legal Aid NSW, The National Pro Bono Resource Centre, Public Interest Law Clearing House (PILCH NSW), Maurice Blackburn Pty Ltd, Macquarie Legal Centre, Macquarie University and the Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT).

Macquarie University has an existing relationship with Macquarie Community Legal Centre where it places about 40 students in a clinical legal education program each year and has recently commenced another student placement program with the nearby Family Relationship Centre.

MUSCLE is now exploring ways of enhancing community legal MUSCLE organisers Natalie Wong, Lauren Dragicevich and Sach Mathur          engagement opportunities for even more Macquarie law students, including creating a student pro bono program.

At an event held at Mallesons in Sydney the Commonwealth A-G Robert McClelland relaunched the Lawstuff website run by the National Children’s Youth and Legal Centre. The service provides legal information and email advice for young people and has been in existence since 1997. The website receives over 4 million hits a year. Mallesons supports the NCYLC by providing a secondee lawyer, and other logistical and legal support including funds for coordination of volunteers who recently include in-house counsel from Telstra and ASIC.

The Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia, located in Perth, is looking for a Managing Lawyer for its Civil and Human Rights Unit. The Unit is a unique Western Australian legal practice specialising in human rights and civil law, focusing in particular on complaints of misconduct by police and other State officials, discrimination claims in the Equal Opportunity Commission and Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission and more recently group litigation with respect to the Stolen Generation and Stolen Wages.

Applications close 15 April 2011. For more information please visit http://www.als.org.au/images/stories/Employment/Managing_Lawyer_-_Civil_and_Human_Rights_Unit_Perth.pdf.

Five-year disability legal stoush ends

30 March 2011 – Lawyers Weekly
Lawyers at the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC) have secured a remarkable victory after a five-year battle to have wheelchair accessible taxis live up to their name. The victory came as PIAC and their client, wheel chair-bound Greg Killeen, announced the withdrawal of their Federal Court disability discrimination claim because of a recent change in Transport NSW rules.

US: Lawyers Passionate about Providing Access to Justice for Underserved Populations

29 March 2011 – Business Wire
LexisNexis and Pro Bono Net today announced the results of a new study indicating that pro bono work is heavily ingrained in the legal profession, and is driven primarily by a sense of personal commitment on the part of lawyers. Almost eight out of ten (79 percent) of the more than 200 attorneys surveyed (from both large and small firms) use their skills to make a positive impact in the world.

New GLBTI legal service

23 March 2011 – The Star Observer
A free legal service for GLBTI people has been set up in West Heidelberg. Last week the West Heidelberg Community Legal Service announced it would offer a GLBTI-specific legal service staffed by gay and lesbian lawyers. The legal service’s principal solicitor Scott Ashley said the service was inspired by the Queensland legal service launched by former High Court Judge Michael Kirby last year.

Q&A: Former UK attorney general on the practice of pro bono

1 March 2011 – TrustLaw
Lord Goldsmith is the European chairman of litigation at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP. From 2001-2007 he was Britain’s attorney general and is a well-known supporter of pro bono initiatives, having established the Bar Pro Bono Unit in 1996. TrustLaw spoke to him about the importance of pro bono, how its practice can be spread around the world and how publicly employed lawyers can also get involved.

NZ Lawyers create quake committee

23 February 2011 – Lawyers Weekly
The New Zealand Law Society has set-up a special earthquake response committee and website to coordinate legal services to earthquake victims. The committee will help to co-ordinate lawyers from around New Zealand that have volunteered to provide advice and assistance to anyone in Christchurch with an urgent legal matter. The website is at www.lawsociety.org.nz/home/earthquake_assistance.

International Legal Pro Bono Group to focus on Asia Pacific Region

17 February 2011 – Commonwealth Attorney General [media release]
Attorney-General Robert McClelland today met with Australia’s International Pro Bono Advisory Group to endorse their work promoting human rights and the rule of law in the Asia Pacific region over the coming year. “The Group is proving to be an excellent forum for encouraging and promoting opportunities for Australian lawyers to be involved in international pro bono legal work,” the A-G said.

Singapore: Compulsory pro bono work for lawyers ‘interesting’

15 February 2011 – TODAYonline
Amidst calls for lawyers to do more pro bono cases, a suggestion arose yesterday that this should be required under a compulsory programme all lawyers will soon have to undergo before they can renew their practising certificates. The Singapore Institute of Legal Education will look at best practices overseas, hear feedback from lawyers and consider the “practical realities” before finalising the details, which should kick in next year.