Issue 130: September 2018
Welcome to the September 2018 issue of AUSTRALIAN PRO BONO NEWS, the Centre’s monthly newsletter providing stories and articles of interest to the Australian pro bono community.
We welcome your feedback, submissions and ideas for both Australian Pro Bono News and our website – please email [email protected] or refer to our Contact page.
For past issues, visit our newsletter Archive.
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Editorial
The importance of access to justice underpinning healthy, functioning communities is a straightforward and simple concept but it can be very hard to achieve for the most disadvantaged and marginalised communities in our society.
This is one of the eighteen overarching themes in the Law Council’s Justice Project Final Report released on 23 August 2018. Our lead story is a pro bono perspective on this Report. A key strength of the Report is that it reflects the lived experience of clients, lawyers and others, including a large proportion of the Australian Pro Bono News readership. The report is a substantial and important piece of work and the Centre will be undertaking further analysis of it.
Thank you to all firms and Target signatories who have provided data for the annual Target report (due out end of September) and the biennial survey of firms with more than 50 lawyers. We are currently in the process of following up with firms and checking data.
Another key story this month provides an update on the pro bono regime within the Commonwealth’s legal purchasing arrangements as it transitions towards a whole of government panel system.
We have been busy at the Centre having just held a successful follow-up event with in-house corporate counsel at the Law Society of NSW (see story and photos), and with planning for the Centre’s inaugural Research Roundtable to be held on 8 October 2018, which aims to explore the possibility of partnering with others to expand the Centre’s research capability.
The program for the 7th National Access to Justice and Pro Bono Conference to be held in Canberra from 14-15 March 2019 is well-advanced and will provide an interesting diversity of sessions and speakers. Further details should appear shortly on a new dedicated conference website. Please put these dates in your diaries.
This month we also interview Malcom McCusker QC who has taken over as Chair of Law Access in WA, and profile two pro bono team members who were promoted mid-year: Sara Lane at Ashurst and Rebecca Dominguez at Baker McKenzie.
We have two stories about Colin Biggers Paisley: a video interview with Karen Iles, Director of Pro Bono and Responsible Business, and a report on the firm’s recent staff Artists in the Black Challenge tour of Central Australia for the Arts Law Centre. Last but not least, don’t forget to say hi to our new secondee Trent Wallace.
John Corker
CEO
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Issue 130: September 2018
Welcome to the July 2018 issue of AUSTRALIAN PRO BONO NEWS, the Centre’s monthly newsletter providing stories and articles of interest to the Australian pro bono community.
We welcome your feedback, submissions and ideas for both Australian Pro Bono News and our website – please email [email protected] or refer to our Contact page.
For past issues, visit our Archives page.
*
Editorial
The importance of access to justice underpinning healthy, functioning communities is a straightforward and simple concept but it can be very hard to achieve for the most disadvantaged and marginalised communities in our society.
This is one of the eighteen overarching themes in the Law Council’s Justice Project Final Report released on 23 August 2018. Our lead story is a pro bono perspective on this Report. A key strength of the Report is that it reflects the lived experience of clients, lawyers and others, including a large proportion of the Australian Pro Bono News readership. The report is a substantial and important piece of work and the Centre will be undertaking further analysis of it.
Thank you to all firms and Target signatories who have provided data for the annual Target report (due out end of September) and the biennial survey of firms with more than 50 lawyers. We are currently in the process of following up with firms and checking data.
Another key story this month provides an update on the pro bono regime within the Commonwealth’s legal purchasing arrangements as it transitions towards a whole of government panel system.
We have been busy at the Centre having just held a successful follow-up event with in-house corporate counsel at the Law Society of NSW (see story and photos), and with planning for the Centre’s inaugural Research Roundtable to be held on 8 October 2018, which aims to explore the possibility of partnering with others to expand the Centre’s research capability.
The program for the 7th National Access to Justice and Pro Bono Conference to be held in Canberra from 14-15 March 2019 is well-advanced and will provide an interesting diversity of sessions and speakers. Further details should appear shortly on a new dedicated conference website. Please put these dates in your diaries.
This month we also interview Malcom McCusker QC who has taken over as Chair of Law Access in WA, and profile two pro bono team members who were promoted mid-year: Sara Lane at Ashurst and Rebecca Dominguez at Baker McKenzie.
We have two stories about Colin Biggers Paisley: a video interview with Karen Iles, Director of Pro Bono and Responsible Business, and a report on the firm’s recent staff Artists in the Black Challenge tour of Central Australia for the Arts Law Centre. Last but not least, don’t forget to say hi to our new secondee Trent Wallace.
John Corker
CEO
Commonwealth Legal Services Expenditure Report 2016-2017: government expenditure up, but pro bono down
The Commonwealth has just released their annual legal services expenditure report for 2016-2017 reporting total legal services expenditure of $825.51m (up 4.2%), and 502,619 hours of pro bono legal work done by reporting firms (down 9.5% on 2015-16 results).
LSMUL gone but Commonwealth commitment to pro bono conditions continues
The Commonwealth Government’s Legal Services Multi-Use List (LSMUL) of firms authorised to provide legal services to the Commonwealth ceased on 1 July 2018 and with it some of the conditions that formally encouraged firms to undertake pro bono legal work.
The Justice Project Final Report – A Pro Bono Perspective
In early 2017, the Law Council of Australia embarked on a national, comprehensive review into the state of access to justice in Australia for people experiencing significant disadvantage.
Pro bono promotions, September 2018
We’re pleased to congratulate pro bono coordinators Rebecca Dominguez and Sara Lane on their much-deserved promotions.
Pro Bono in the News – September 2018
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.
Q&A with The Hon. Malcolm McCusker QC, Law Access WA
The Hon. Malcolm McCusker AC CVO QC recently took up the post of Company Director and Chairman of Law Access WA, a legal pro bono referral service connecting some of the most vulnerable people from all over Western Australia, who cannot afford legal assistance, with lawyers willing to assist on a pro bono basis. We spoke to Mr. McCusker about his new role at Law Access WA and his experience of pro bono legal work.
Colin Biggers & Paisley trek the outback to raise funds for Artists in the Black
Walking up to 23 km a day through the central Australian desert may seem an unusual way of supporting access to justice, but one pro bono project has done exactly that, proving along the way that thinking outside the square can deliver multiple benefits for the client group, the working relationship and the delivery of legal services.
Pro Bono Legal Work and Corporate Social Responsibility – An Evening for In-house Corporate Lawyers
On 22 August 2018, the Australian Pro Bono Centre (Centre) and Law Society of NSW hosted a forum to engage and support in-house corporate lawyers to do pro bono legal work.
Introducing Trent Wallace
Welcome to Trent Wallace, our newest Secondee Policy and Project Officer. Trent comes to us from Australian Government Solicitor (AGS).