Welcome to the October 2012 edition of the e-Newsletter of the National Pro Bono Resource Centre. We welcome your feedback/contributions/ideas – please email info@nationalprobono.org.au. In this edition, read about:

1. REPORT: National Pro Bono Survey results show resilience amongst law firms
2. CONFERENCE REPORT: 1st South East Asia Pro Bono Conference provides a grand celebration of the pro bono ethos
3. CONFERENCE: Fourth National Access to Justice and Pro Bono Conference website now live
4. REPORT: National Legal Need Survey reveals a hidden epidemic of legal problems
5. IN-HOUSE NEWS: Telstra adopt a formal in-house pro bono policy
6. IN-HOUSE NEWS: Launch of Salvos Legal In-house Pro Bono Desk creates new opportunities for in-house counsel
7. NEW SERVICE: NBN Southern Tasmanian legal service open for business
8. EVENT: Inaugural Australian Symposium for Advocacy-Health Alliances to be held in Melbourne
9. EVENT: Salvos Legal 2012 – Lecture Series on again
10. JOBS: For the latest jobs check out Social Justice Opportunities
11. PRO BONO IN THE NEWS: AUGUST – OCTOBER 2012

Australian law firms slightly increased the amount of pro bono legal assistance they provide, despite the economic conditions and the significant structural change that has taken place in the law firm sector over the past two years.

These findings come from the 2012 National Law Firm Pro Bono Survey, which is conducted every two years by the National Pro Bono Resource Centre, and the Fifth Annual Performance Report on the National Pro Bono Aspirational Target, both released on 4 October 2012. Thirty-six of the 51 Australian firms with more than 50 FTE lawyers, including all of the large national firms, responded to the Survey.

Between them, 11,460 FTE lawyers in Australia undertook more than 343,058 hours of pro bono legal work in the 2011/2012 financial year, or an average of 29.9 hours per lawyer per annum, up 0.9 hours per lawyer from 2010. “That’s equivalent to 191 lawyers working pro bono full-time for a year,” said John Corker, Director of the National Pro Bono Resource Centre.

However, performance across the 36 firms surveyed was quite uneven, ranging from 1.8 to 64.2 hours per lawyer per year. “There is clearly room for growth in pro bono legal work in a number of firms. These results will allow firms to benchmark themselves against their peers.” Corker said.

There was also a record rise in the number of Aspirational Target signatories up from 66 in 2011 to 95 in 2012. The number of full time equivalent (FTE) legal professionals covered by the Target is now 7,636.5, which is an increase of 44 per cent since 30 June 2011, the largest yearly increase since the Target was introduced in 2007. The Target now covers approximately 12.9 per cent of the Australian legal profession. 

Target signatory firms generally performed better than non-signatory firms which suggests that signatory firms generally have a stronger pro bono culture evidenced by significantly higher participation rates (59.3% v 43%) and pro bono hours/lawyer (36.6 v 20.1).

Many of the new signatories are small or mid-tier firms, whose decision to sign up to the Target was influenced by the Commonwealth Attorney General Department’s current process of seeking applications from firms for inclusion on the ‘legal services multi-use list’ (LSMUL), which is being used by Australian Government departments, agencies and bodies to purchase legal services.

The 2012 National Law Firm Pro Bono Survey Interim Report and the Fifth Annual Performance Report on the National Pro Bono Aspirational Target are available in full online.

The final survey report is planned to be released later in the year with a series of forums for those interested in discussing the results.

The 1st South East Asia Pro Bono conference was held in Vientiane, Laos on 28 and 29 September 2012 bringing together over 150 delegates from 20 countries. It was a grand celebration of the importance of pro bono legal work and the pro bono ethos or, to quote Annette Bain, Australian Pro Bono Counsel for Herbert Smith Freehills, “The demonstrated passion, expertise and enthusiasm in the room was breathtaking.”

Expertly facilitated by BABSEA Community Legal Education, this was a conference about what pro bono can and has achieved.  There was much active participation from delegates supported by law students from Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, including international students.

Lawyers from law firms Allens Linklaters, Baker and McKenzie, DLA Piper, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Herbert Smith Freehills were present and shared the experience of their pro bono initiatives, relationships and projects.  But the heart of the two-day conference came from the stories of lawyers undertaking pro bono work in their own countries and their successes and challenges.
For example, Mr Lewis Truong, Country Counsel for IBM in Vietnam and Ms. Erlynne Espenilla Uy, IBM Senior Attorney based in Singapore, told the conference how they had formed a partnership with Baker & McKenzie to deliver legal assistance related to healthcare in the region.

Myanmar lawyers told how there was a very low awareness of law and lawyers in their country and how they were trying, on their own initiative, to register the Myanmar Legal Aid Network with government so they could help people in need without charge, train paralegals and provide community legal education.

A new definition of pro bono was suggested by Kong Phallack, a Cambodian lawyer who defined it as Metta (a Buddhist concept meaning a strong wish for the welfare and happiness of others) or hearted legal services provided by a law firm or a lawyer to the needy either free of or for minimal charge.  The idea of “hearted legal services” caught the essence of pro bono for many of the delegates. 

Coming from countries where the rule of law and the independence of the legal profession are not strong, the ideology of pro bono resonated strongly with many as a way in which law in their country could have greater meaning and effect.  An emerging theme was the suggested relationship between the strength of the rule of law and the degree of the standard of living in a country.  Pro bono was seen as a way of raising legal awareness through demonstrating that lawyers want to help build their community.

The keynote address, from Ms Malathi Das, President of LawAsia, urged delegates to revel in the nobility of the law and to be there to provide legal help when people are in need.  The conference was successful in connecting Singapore lawyers with many others in the region and their continuing leadership in the development of pro bono culture in the region was evident. 

Singapore Law Society’s Pro Bono Service Office (PBSO) showed what can be achieved when the legal profession really gets behind the development of a pro bono legal culture. “The Incredible Lawyer” initiative, aimed at building the pro bono culture across the profession, “Project Schools”, aimed at the education of students about how the law affects everyone, and the Pro Bono Guide for Law Practices in Singapore (based on the Australian Pro Bono Manual) were highlights of the conference. 

The pro bono ethic as a driving force for legal education was a unique feature of this conference, as was the enthusiastic participation of law students who presented the story of a community legal problem theatrically, acted as timekeepers, and provided IT and logistical support.

In the sessions discussing clinical legal education, there was an overwhelming consensus that this should be a mainstream part of the law curriculum.  It was put strongly by a panel of four speakers from Singapore, Thailand, Australia and Cambodia that this ‘experiential  learning’ must focus on ethical practice and community service in order to effectively inculcate the pro bono ethos in students.

Delegates were present from Australia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Luxembourg, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, United Kingdom and the USA. Many countries were keen to be the host for the next conference.  There was an official handover to the 2013 host, the University of Economics and Law in Ho Cho Minh City, Vietnam, with Singapore mooted to be the host for 2014.

The Lao food was a delight with salt-encrusted fish cooked on coals, complemented by BeerLao, a favourite amongst the members of the international organizing committee.  The conference was strongly supported by international and local sponsors including a local bakery and a coffee shop.  One message that arose a number of times in the conference, which will be familar to Australians, was to not underestimate the extraordinary relationships that can arise from a simple chat over a cup of tea or coffee.

For further information see the BABSEA CLE conference report.

The Fourth National Access to Justice & Pro Bono Conference is being held in Melbourne on Thursday 21 and Friday 22 March 2013, hosted by the Centre, The Law Council of Australia and the Law Institute of Victoria.

See the website for details and bookmark it for the latest program and papers.

 
The national report on the results of the Legal Australia-Wide Survey (LAW Survey), the largest of its kind in the world, was launched in Canberra on 11 October 2012.  It showed widespread legal problems and heightened vulnerability among people with a disability, single parents, unemployed persons, people in disadvantaged housing and Indigenous people.  The LAW Survey was commissioned by National Legal Aid and conducted by the Law and Justice Foundation of NSW.

The launch was addressed by Father Frank Brennan, Cassandra Goldie, CEO of ACOSS, and Bevan Warner, Chair of National Legal Aid.  Fr Brennan stressed the importance of the finding that disadvantaged people were especially vulnerable to multiple, substantial legal problems. Cassandra Goldie observed that the research corroborated the ACOSS Community Sector Survey 2012 that had identified high legal need and by reference to the plight of a single mother, illustrated how important coordinated legal action might be in preventing that person becoming homeless.  Bevan Warner spoke of the pressure on legal aid commissions and called on the Commonwealth government to at least match the State’s contribution to legal aid funding in order to address more of the civil law need in Australia.

 Results showed that 50% of Australians aged 15 or over experienced at least one legal problem over a 12-month period. The most common legal problems reported were consumer, crime, housing and government problems.  

The survey also showed the impact that legal problems have on individuals and their families, with significant findings of financial strain, health issues and relationship breakdowns as a result of experiencing legal problems.

While legal problems appear to be widespread, only half of the respondents had sought advice in order to resolve a legal problem and only 16 per cent had consulted a lawyer. Those who did nothing about their legal problems reported poorer outcomes.

“The survey results provide valuable information on legal need in Australia, not only for government but also for law firms and their pro bono programs,” said John Corker, Director of the National Pro Bono Resource Centre. “Pro bono is a limited resource and should be directed towards the greatest unmet need.  This comprehensive research warrants attention by pro bono providers, particularly in relation to those people identified as having heightened vulnerability to legal issues and multiple legal problems.”

The survey results were based on over 20,000 interviews of a representative sample of the Australian population.

A full copy of the survey report, summaries and individual chapters can be downloaded here from the NSW Law and Justice Foundation website.

Telstra Legal has recently formally adopted a Pro Bono Policy for the Telstra Pro Bono Program, consisting of a number of streams. Carmel Mulhern, Telstra’s Group General Counsel, launched the Policy to the Telstra Legal team in late August 2012 and encouraged all staff to take part.

General Counsel, Michael Coleman indicated that this policy was prompted by recent changes to practising certificate rules in a number of Australian jurisdictions which, for the first time, allow in-house lawyers to perform pro bono work in their corporate lawyer capacity.

Coleman said that Telstra will continue to contribute to several pro bono projects with which it is now involved, with their Pro Bono Committee working on developing additional streams.  Telstra aims to align its pro bono work with its Volunteer Day program which offers individuals and workgroups the opportunity of spending a day working with the community group of their choice.

The Program will build on the Legal Services Group’s existing relationships with partner organisations like PILCH (Vic), the Arts Law Centre of Australia, King & Wood Mallesons, National Children and Youth Law Centre and Ashurst.  He thanked these and other partners who have already provided assistance in the development of Telstra’s Pro Bono Policy.

The launch of the Salvos Legal Inhouse Pro Bono Desk in Sydney on 15 October represents a unique new opportunity for in-house counsel and government lawyers to become involved in pro bono legal work, and more generally, to develop the growth of pro bono culture across the profession.  Salvos Legal, which was launched last year, is a not-for-profit law firm which uses the profits of its legal practice to fund a free humanitarian law service for those in need.

While some of the obstacles to the participation of in-house and government lawyers have been removed in recent years, for example with changes to practising certificate regimes, there are still many in-house and government lawyers interested in contributing their time and skills, who have difficulty finding appropriate projects or supervision.

Lawyers from the corporate and government sectors who volunteer to undertake legal work with Salvos Legal will be supervised and supported as they help Salvos Legal Humanitarian clients.

“Lawyers volunteering at the desk will be able to work on a diverse range of matters across our humanitarian practice,” said Salvos Legal founder and Managing Partner Luke Geary.

“We know that there is a great demand among the ranks of in-house lawyers who wish to undertake pro bono work and achieve the National Pro Bono Aspirational Target of 35 hours a year, but find the pro bono ‘opportunities’ hard to come by.  Our Desk can help meet this need.  Inhouse counsel who ‘hot-desk’ with us will be able to rely on our professional indemnity insurance,” said Geary.

Several large corporate/government entities have already made enquiries with Salvos Legal in relation to setting up a formal program at the Desk for their in-house lawyers (in addition to enquiries from individual lawyers).

Lawyers can either volunteer in their own time or, with the permission of their employer, undertake the pro bono work as part of their official employment.  Those interested in working for the Desk, can obtain further information about the nature of the work and areas of law involved on the Inhouse Pro Bono Desk webpage.

On 15 October 2012, the NBN Southern Tasmanian legal service based at the Sorell outreach branch of the Hobart Community Legal Service (HCLS) opened its doors for business.  The Attorney-General, the Hon Nicola Roxon and the Hon Julie Collins, Minister for Community Services were on hand at the offices of the HCLS to help promote the service and meet the HCLS staff.

The service has been established under a grant under the NBN Regional Legal Assistance Program to use the NBN to provide pro bono legal support in a regional area with a view to learning about the advantages and disadvantages of this high bandwidth video support. 

The service will provide free legal advice to clients with appropriate matters, by using an NBN-based video link to lawyers from DLA Piper coordinated through a team leader based in the firm’s Melbourne office.  The HCLS solicitor at Sorell will
triage matters to determine appropriate cases for video link support.  TheNPBRC will provide the research capability to record many aspects of the service and write a report of the project.

It is hoped that having access to lawyers online will allow the HCLS to provide legal advice to people it previously could not assist because it did not have the expertise, and provide opportunities to increase the skills and knowledge of the HCLS lawyers.  DLA Piper will also provide legal training sessions on specific areas of law to HCLS legal staff.  The training addresses a need in a small jurisdiction where it is difficult for community lawyers to get support from the private profession because many firms have conflicts, actual or perceived.

Advocacy-Health Alliances or Medical-Legal Partnerships (MLP) as they are known in the United States, involve collaborations between advocates and health workers to achieve improved health and social outcomes for clients / patients. Such holistic approaches to service provision, whether in the health, legal or social service arena are of increasing interest to policy makers and funderswho wish to target services to where they can achieve the greatest impact

In Australia, MLP is in its infancy but there are examples of legal services provided in partnership with health services such as the Cancer Council Legal Referral Service (NSW), the long-standing West Heidelberg Community Legal Service partnership with Banyule Community Health service (Vic) or the pro bono legal program developed by lawyers from Baker & McKenzie at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (Vic).

Peter Noble, Coordinator of Loddon Campaspe Community Legal Centre, undertook a study of MLP in the US earlier in 2012 as a Clayton Utz fellow.  His report was released at the National Association of Community Legal Centres Conference in Adelaide this year and made series of recommendations aimed at advancing Advocacy Health Alliances in Australia. The research revealed that providing legal services in partnership with health care providers can have a significant impact on the health of disadvantaged people and potentially reduce overall public health costs.

The Inaugural Australian Symposium for Advocacy-Health Alliances, proudly hosted by Baker & McKenzie on 15 November 2012, is for those who work or study in the health or legal fields, have an interest in this area, or would just like to know more.

The Symposium’s guest speakers are:

• Dr Edward Paul, Director of Graduate Medical Education at Yuma Regional Medical Centre, National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership Transitional Board of Directors;

• Elizabeth Tobin-Tyler, Director of Public Service & Community Partnerships and Lecturer in Public Law at Roger Williams University School of Law, National Center for Medical-Legal Partnership Transitional Board of Directors;

• Prof. Pascoe Pleasence, Professor of Empirical Legal Studies at the University College London;

• Peter Noble, Clayton Utz Foundation Fellow, Coordinator of Loddon Campaspe Community Legal Centre.

Further details and how to register for the event can be found on the Advocacy Health Alliances Blog.

The second instalment in the Salvos Legal 2012 Lecture Series is to be held on 3 November 2012, brought to you jointly by Salvos Legal and the National Pro Bono Resource Centre.

Salvos Legal operates as a commercial practice in order to sustain the Salvos Legal Humanitarian practice, which is a free legal service that aims to provide access to justice through full-time representation to those who could not otherwise obtain it. It was established in early 2010.

The second set of lectures will be held in Sydney on Saturday 3 November and present lectures from The Hon Peter Rose, QC, Fr Frank Brennan SJ AO, Federal Magistrate Tom Altobelli, The Hon Justice James Allsop and Federal Magistrate Rolf Driver.

Registration for the lectures is by way of donation (however much you can afford) and is fully tax deductible. The proceeds from the Salvos Legal 2012 lecture series will go to support the cost of disbursements associated with the most needy of cases at the Salvos Legal Humanitarian practice.

5 CPD/CLE points can be claimed for attendance.

For further details and to register. 

Check out Social Justice Opportunities for information on finding a job or volunteering in the social justice sector. The website includes a ‘Latest Opportunities‘ section which provides a list of current jobs and volunteering opportunities around the country. Currently there are more than twenty positions listed.

To keep abreast of all the latest opportunities you can follow @SJOpps on Twitter or like us on Facebook.

Articles of interest to the pro bono community from August to October 2012. Click through to read any news article in full.

Australia

Congratulations to Clayton Utz for their impressive performance:

Clutz reaches pro bono landmark
24 October 2012 – The New Lawyer
Clayton Utz recently celebrated meeting the remarkable milestone of 400,000 hours of pro bono legal assistance and representation of the disadvantaged. The pro bono landmark coincided with the firm’s release of 15 highlights from 15 years of pro bono practice, which follows the development of the Clayton Utz pro bono practice since it was established in 1997. 

Mature professions give something back [paywall]
23 October 2012 – The Australian
ICT is rapidly maturing as a profession and with that maturity comes increased responsibility. Many professions have a concept of “pro bono” work or volunteering. A survey of law professionals undertaken by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2009 showed lawyers provided 955,400 hours of pro bono work in 2007-08 at an estimated value of more than $200m.

Pro bono planner fights bullying

22 October 2012 – Lawyers Weekly
The extra-curricular efforts of this year’s Salvos Legal Pro Bono Award winner, Felicity Heffernan, have helped stamp out discrimination, harassment and workplace bullying in Western Australia. Also in the running for the award were Baker & McKenzie’s Kate Gillingham, Clayton Utz’s Larissa Cook, Sparke Helmore’s Katy Mooney, King & Wood Mallesons’ Stephanie Puris & Gadens’ Alexia Marinos.

Salvos use free market to fund lawyer access [paywall]

19 October 2012 – The Australian
Without accepting one dollar of public money, the Salvation Army has created a self-funding legal practice that provides free legal work for those in need. This goal, which has eluded the nation’s financially stressed community legal centres, has been achieved using the normal market mechanism.

Salvos Legal to fill in-house pro bono void

17 October 2012 – Lawyers Weekly
On Monday evening (15 Oct), the Salvos Legal team and representatives from its major clients gathered in Sydney for the launch of its In-house Pro Bono Desk. The Desk, which will be staffed by lawyers across both the corporate and government sectors, was established to meet the high demand among in-house lawyers who wish to undertake pro bono work but who find opportunities hard to come by.

Online legal service logs on

15 October 2012 – ABC News
Federal Attorney-General Nicola Roxon has launched a new online legal assistance service in Hobart. The Hobart Community Legal Service received a $60,000 Commonwealth grant to run Australia’s first online help service. People in rural and remote areas of the state will be able to access specialist legal advice from around the country by using the national broadband network.

DLA Piper lawyers support remote communities in Tasmania via NBN legal assistance program [media release]

15 October 2012 – DLA Piper
DLA Piper lawyers are set to provide pro bono legal assistance to rural, regional and remote communities in Southern Tasmania via Skype and other high speed broadband enabled video conferencing technologies, as part of a NBN based legal assistance program developed in partnership with the National Pro Bono Resource Centre & Hobart Community Legal Service.

Legal problems are affecting half the population, says Bevan Warner

12 October 2012 – The Australian
Legal problems are a hidden epidemic directly affecting almost half the population, a landmark national survey has revealed. The survey has prompted calls for the commonwealth to match the states’ contribution to legal assistance funding and reveals that if legal problems are left unchecked, they snowball into financial, health and other problems that impose costs on other taxpayer-funded services.

Legal Aid for regions outstrips metro areas

12 October 2012 – Ipswich Satellite
More than half of all Legal Aid-funded advice goes to financially disadvantaged people in rural, regional and remote areas of Queensland. Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie told an estimates hearing at Parliament House on Thursday that in-house counsel made appearances in regional and remote circuits from Mount Isa to Mackay and right down the coast to Maryborough and Hervey Bay.

Size doesn’t matter

9 October 2012 – Lawyers Weekly
Australia’s foremost pro bono advocate has challenged mid-tier and small law firms to devote more resources to pro bono work. John Corker, the head of the National Pro Bono Resource Centre, spoke to Lawyers Weekly in the wake of the release of the National Law Firm Pro Bono Survey on Thursday (4 October).

Crimes against justice

9 October 2012 – Lawyers Weekly
As the Government and legal profession argue over who is to blame for the underfunding of legal aid, a growing number of Australians charged with serious crimes are finding they have no option but to represent themselves. Leanne Mezrani reports.

Legal Pro Bono Continues to Rise – Report

8 October 2012 – Pro Bono Australia
Large Australian law firms have continued to increase the amount of pro bono legal assistance they provide. The increase comes despite the significant structural change that has taken place in the law firm sector over the past two years. The research was carried out as part of the National Law Firm Pro Bono Survey, which is conducted every 2 years by the National Pro Bono Resource Centre.

In the public interest

8 October 2012 – Law Institute Journal
Nearly 20 years ago, Victoria’s legal fraternity decided there must be a better way to do more free work. And there was. PILCH was established to provide a formal clearing house for public interest pro bono work and in two decades has grown from a mere proposal to become a legal force that has influenced government policy, shaped public opinion, initiated law reform and enhanced access to justice.

Firms setting up pro bono practices are on the rise [paywall]

5 October 2012 – The Australian
A national survey has found that the amount of pro bono work conducted at 36 law firms in the past year was the equivalent of 191 lawyers working full-time for 12 months. The survey, conducted by the National Pro Bono Resource Centre, found the average amount of pro bono work undertaken by each lawyer at the 36 firms was just under 30 hours a year, an increase of 54 minutes from 2010.

Mid-tier practices lag behind larger rivals [paywall]

5 October 2012 – The Australian
The results of the national pro bono survey published today reveal a striking gap between our large international and top-tier firms in Australia — which show a strong commitment to pro bono — and a middle tier that does not. Interestingly, this latest data reflects a growing trend overseas, with similar research recently conducted in the US.

Pro bono work increases [paywall]

5 October 2012 – Australian Financial Review
Large law firms have collectively increased the amount of work they do for free, but the very largest still provide the most pro bono advice, a national survey has found. The survey, conducted by the National pro Bono Resource Centre, was answered by 36 of the 51 firms in Australia with more than 50 full-time equivalent lawyers. Results for these firms varied widely.

Victims fear crime payout cuts

26 September 2012 – ABC News
In New South Wales, legal aid and community groups are worried about rumoured cuts to victims of crime compensation. The government’s commissioned a review because it says the existing system is financially unsustainable – but it also says no decisions have been made. But workers who support claimants say that far from being over-sized, the current system isn’t big enough.

Smith calls review of shrinking fund [paywall]

21 September 2012 – The Australian
THE statutory fund that underpins some of the key legal institutions in NSW is facing a government review after four years of deficits and declining assets. The review has been ordered by the state’s Attorney-General, Greg Smith, after the NSW Law Society raised concerns about the deteriorating position of the Public Purpose Fund.

LSB grants millions to Victorian justice projects

17 September 2012 – Lawyers Weekly
The Legal Services Board (LSB) has awarded around $2.1 million in funding to 10 recipients in the 2012 Major Grants Round. The funding was granted for projects that aim to promote and improve the legal and justice system in Victoria. “The projects awarded in this round will benefit young people, people in rural Victoria, people living with cancer, women seeking intervention orders and NFPs.

Lawyers devise legal advice plan for any future disasters

14 September 2012 – Canberra Times
Lawyers have come up with a plan to help Canberrans access legal advice in the wake of disasters like the 2003 bushfires. Attorney-General Simon Corbell launched the territory’s Emergency Legal Help plan yesterday, the first of its kind in Australia. The plan, designed by the ACT Legal Assistance Forum, lays out a framework for a co-ordinated a legal response to large-scale emergencies.

Legal centres on collision course over right to lobby [paywall]

14 September 2012 – The Australian
When it comes to the role of community legal centres, Michael Smith has a view that puts him on a collision course with Queensland Attorney-General Jarrod Bleijie. Mr Smith, who is convener of the National Association of Community Legal Centres, believes his members have a duty to lobby governments for political and public policy change.

Kimberley heritage sold out by ‘conspiracy of deceit’ [paywall]

8 September 2012 – The Australian
TO understand the Aboriginal heritage concerns of Kimberley law man Joseph Roe, it is necessary to appreciate the cultural meaning of life and death. These concepts do not sit easily with the practicalities of modern-day life in an export-driven world. But for more than the past three years some of Australia’s most respected Aboriginal heritage lawyers have worked pro bono on Roe’s behalf.

Legal centres call for review of funding [paywall]

31 August 2012 – The Australian
Community legal centres have called for a federal review of legal assistance services to quantify the sector’s level of unmet financial need. Community Law Australia spokesman Hugh de Kretser said it was not enough for the federal government-commissioned review to examine if money was being spent efficiently. It also needed to advise the government on how much the total pot of funding should be.

Big users must pay more for courts: Roxon

29 August 2012 – The Australian
Attorney-General Nicola Roxon said the government was concerned to ensure the courts did not just exist for those with “very deep pockets” and was keen to explore different ways to improve access, including a greater emphasis on pro-bono or volunteer work. Her remarks were in a speech to the National Association of Community Legal Centres in Adelaide on Wednesday.

More funds for NSW, Vic legal aid centres

29 August 2012 – Herald Sun
Legal aid services in NSW and Victoria will get the majority of an extra $1.6 million in federal funding. Attorney-General Nicola Roxon announced the extra cash on Wednesday at the National Association of Community Legal Centres conference in Adelaide. Twenty one centres or services will share in the money, but 11 of those are in NSW and six in Victoria.

Best of both worlds

23 August 2012 – Lawyers Weekly
The new head of the AHRC, Gillian Triggs, says she is first and foremost a lawyer, despite a long and successful career in academia. Together with Peter Cashman, director of the University of Sydney’s social justice program, Triggs transformed 3 floors of the Phillip St building into a social justice legal education clinic. In exchange for free accommodation, organisations provide internships to students.

Qld govt to review legal services’ funds

22 August 2012 – Courier Mail
THE Queensland government is to review the way state funds are divided among community legal services. Mr Bleijie said he wanted to review the allocation of funds to ensure “maximise service delivery”. He said he had set up an industry reference group to review the trust fund structure used to finance these legal organisations. The review is due to be finalised by December 31.

International

US: NJ court officials consider pro bono rule for aspiring lawyers

23 October 2012 – Thomson Reuters
Following the lead of the New York state court system, New Jersey’s top judge has formed a committee to consider requiring prospective attorneys to complete pro bono work before being admitted to the state bar. The 17-member panel, which Chief Justice Stuart Rabner created last week, will review New York’s pro bono mandate, which requires 50 hours of work, and make recommendations to Rabner.

UK: Q+A – UK access to justice ‘under threat’ from legal-aid cuts

18 October 2012 – TrustLaw
A UK bill due to cut legal aid will limit equal access to justice to the poorest and richest, while hindering the provision of pro bono services where they are needed most, according to the president of The Law Society. In a written interview with TrustLaw, Lucy Scott-Moncrieff explained how next year’s planned cuts could affect pro bono work.

US: New York’s Pro Bono Requirement Unlikely To Close The ‘Justice Gap’

15 October 2012 – Above the Law
In May, Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman of the New York Court of Appeals announced that a new bar admission hurdle would be foisted upon the state’s would-be lawyers in the form of a 50-hour pro bono requirement. Last month, we found out that the new rule was “much better than it could have been,” since it allowed for the mandatory pro bono hours to be completed anywhere and at any time.

US: New York State Takes Pro Bono to the Next Level

26 September 2012 – Huffington Post
New York State announced this week that all new attorneys will be required to do 50 hours of pro bono to earn the right to practice law in our great state. By starting their careers doing public service, new lawyers will begin their journey with a humble reminder that while they may be paid by an employer, they have a greater responsibility to the community.

US: New York’s New Mandatory Pro Bono Requirements a Step in the Wrong Direction

26 September 2012 – The American Lawyer Daily
In May, Chief Judge Lippman of the New York Court of Appeals announced that a new rule requiring bar applicants to perform 50 hours of pro bono legal services would be adopted later in the year. His announcement received widespread negative reactions, as evidenced by a letter to The New York Times by University of Missouri law professor Ben Trachtenberg (and the many responses to it).

US: How to Be Good

25 September 2012 – New York Law Journal
Last week’s codification of the new pro bono mandate for New York lawyers-to-be – 50 hours prior to admission to practice – left open-ended many questions as to how such a requirement could be fulfilled given the current infrastructure of law schools and public service providers. There is no directive that requires that the 50 hours are spent in New York.

US: Judge Details a Rule Requiring Pro Bono Work by Aspiring Lawyers

19 September 2012 – New York Times
The state’s chief judge on Wednesday announced the details of a new rule – the first of its kind in the nation – requiring law students to perform 50 hours of unpaid work as a condition of practicing in New York. Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman’s goal is to provide legal services for those who cannot afford it.

SINGAPORE: Law schools debate on pro bono work

11 September 2012 – The Straits Times
A recommendation adopted by the Law Society since 2007 urges every lawyer to pledge to commit 25 hours a year towards providing free legal assistance. The Singapore Management University team argued that society – rather than lawyers alone – ought to be responsible for those who cannot afford lawyers. They called for a public defenders’ office.

US: Pro Bono: Just Do It

29 August 2012 – The American Lawyer
In our annual report on big-firm pro bono activity, Amy Kolz reported that the efforts of the Second 100 remain mired, on average, at roughly half the level of The Am Law 100. A variety of explanations were offered: size, geography, low expectations, and even infrastructure. All make some sense, but they politely omit the single most important factor: the will to uphold one of the profession’s noblest ideals.

US: In Defense Of Pro Bono Legal Service, Whatever Form It Takes

24 August 2012 – The Atlantic
Some lawyers provide free counsel to our troops. Others represent the terror detainees. Each performs a service worthy of our gratitude. At its core, pro bono legal work is charity work. It is done by those with a particular expertise on behalf of those who cannot afford to help themselves. It is both a gift and an ethical obligation that the legal community in America has undertaken since before the Revolution.