Pro bono legal work isn’t just for law firms and barristers – in-house corporate counsel are increasingly active in this space and we were encouraged to hear from Nikki Pace from eBay about how she’s involved in partnering with Corrs Chambers Westgarth to provide pro bono legal assistance to not-for-profit ReachOut.
We asked Lauren Miller, General Counsel at Carnival Australia, what pro bono projects her team is engaged in, how their pro bono work is supported by the company, and what the benefits of pro bono for individual lawyers and the company more broadly are. See what she had to say in this short video.
“Our pro bono work is a natural extension of our organisation’s commitment to sustainability, diversity and inclusion. The idea that shared value is created through contribution to our communities is fundamental to how we operate. In some ways, our pro bono work is simply another expression of that principle. The shared value for our organisation and for the organisations we support through pro bono work is mutually reinforcing.”
In-house lawyers are a significant part of the legal landscape. Our conversations with corporate counsel have revealed some common themes. When it comes to pro bono, in-house corporate lawyers and their employers can both meaningfully contribute to, and greatly benefit from, doing pro bono. Gabriela Christian-Hare, our Head of Strategy & Policy, shares some of these insights in this article.
One hundred and fifteen lawyers and fifteen paralegals insured under the National PI Insurance Scheme performed a staggering total of 2,244.7 pro bono hours between 1 January to 30 June 2017, more than double the hours reported in the previous 6-month period ending 31 December 2016.
On 3 August 2017 the Centre launched Pro Bono Legal Work – A Guide for In-house Corporate Lawyers at an event at the Law Society of New South Wales. This resource is available free of charge on the Centre’s website. The Guide was launched by Brian Salter, Group General Counsel, AMP Limited, and Chairperson, ACC Australia GCC 100 who said: “the golden thread of modern contemporary legal practice is the opportunity to participate in pro-bono.”
A new guide to support in-house corporate legal teams to do pro bono legal work was launched at an event held at the Law Society of New South Wales on 3 August 2017 as part of a new joint initiative by the Australian Pro Bono Centre, the Law Society of NSW and the Association of Corporate Council.
Ahead of the launch of our new resource, Pro Bono Legal Work: A guide for in-house corporate lawyers, we spoke with Stephen Chang, Senior Legal Counsel, South Pacific Office of the General Counsel, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE). This is the first of a series we hope to share with you to provide insight into what pro bono looks like for in-house lawyers at large companies.