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CONTENTS &
INFORMATION

HOW TO USE
THIS BOOK

THEMES
ARISING FROM
CONSULTATIONS

UNDERSTANDING
YOUR POTENTIAL
PARTNER

MODELS OF
PRO BONO
ASSISTANCE

Abbreviations & Glossary

ASIC	Australian Securities and Investments Commission
*Australian Pro Bono Manual*	Australian Pro Bono Centre, Australian Pro Bono Manual (3rd edition), LexisNexis, Sydney, 2016. See also the Centre’s website: http://probonocentre.org.au/aus-pro-bono-manual/
CBP	Colin Biggers & Paisley Lawyers
Centre	The Australian Pro Bono Centre
CLC	community legal centre
CLE	community legal education
CLSD	Cooperative Legal Service Delivery
community legal centre	independent, not-for-profit community-based organisation that exists to provide free legal services to the community, with a focus on economically and socially disadvantaged people who have the least access to justice
community service program	a program dedicated to community service other than pro bono legal service, such as a workplace giving program, or a charitable, volunteering or mentoring program
corporate social responsibility	The concept of corporate social responsibility is generally understood to mean that corporations have a degree of responsibility not only for the economic consequences of their activities, but also for the social and environmental implications.
CSD	collaborative service delivery
CSR	corporate social responsibility
ELC	Employment Law Centre of Western Australia
G+T	Gilbert + Tobin
health justice partnership	a collaboration between legal and health service providers to identify and address a client’s legal issues in the context of their health issues
HRLC	Human Rights Law Centre
HSF	Herbert Smith Freehills
IMCL	Inner Melbourne Community Legal
individual volunteer	for the purpose of this book, a person who has, as an individual, made a personal choice to provide their skills and experience to undertake pro bono legal work in their own time, and is distinguished from a lawyer participating in an organised pro bono program
international pro bono legal work	pro bono legal work focused outside of Australia, in response to both need and disadvantage within a recipient country
K&WM	King & Wood Mallesons
large law firm	For the purpose of this book, a large law firm is one with between 450 and 1,000 full-time equivalent lawyers. This corresponds with the `Group A’ firm grouping in the biennial National Law Firm Pro Bono Survey of Australian firms with fifty or more lawyers (December 2014).¹
LCCLC	Loddon Campaspe Community Legal Centre
Manual	see Australian Pro Bono Manual
MB	Maurice Blackburn
mid-sized law firm	For the purpose of this book, a mid-sized law firm is one with between 50 and 350 full-time equivalent lawyers. This corresponds with the `Group B’ and `Group C’ firm groupings in the Fourth National Law Firm Pro Bono Survey of Australian firms with fifty or more lawyers (December 2014).²
MOU	memorandum of understanding
National Law Firm Directory	an online guide to Australian law firms with well-developed pro bono practices, developed by the Centre to facilitate pro bono referrals³
National Law Firm Pro Bono Survey	the Centre’s biennial National Law Firm Pro Bono Survey of Australian firms with fifty or more lawyers
National Pro Bono Aspirational Target	a voluntary target of at least 35 hours of pro bono work per lawyer per year⁴
NCYLC	National Children’s and Youth Law Centre
NFP	not-for-profit organisation
not-for-profit organisation	A not-for-profit organisation (NFP) is one that does not operate for the profit, personal gain or other benefit of particular people (see `What is a not-for-profit’ at the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission website).⁵
PBRO	Pro bono referral schemes and organisations
pro bono legal services	For the purpose of this book, and for the purpose of the National Pro Bono Aspirational Target, pro bono legal services is time spent by lawyers (including law graduates not yet admitted to practice): giving legal assistance for free or at a substantially reduced fee to: individuals who can demonstrate a need for legal assistance but cannot obtain Legal Aid or otherwise access the legal system without incurring significant financial hardship; or individuals or organisations whose matter raises an issue of public interest which would not otherwise be pursued; or charities or other non-profit organisations which work on behalf of low-income or disadvantaged members of the community or for the public good; conducting law reform and policy work on issues affecting low-income or disadvantaged members of the community, or on issues of public interest; participating in the provision of free community legal education on issues affecting low-income or disadvantaged members of the community or on issues of public interest; or providing a lawyer on secondment at a community organisation (including a community legal organisation) or at a referral service provider such as a Public Interest Law Clearing House. The following is not regarded as pro bono work for the purposes of this resource: giving legal assistance to any person for free or at a reduced fee without reference to whether he/she can afford to pay for that legal assistance or whether his/her case raises an issue of public interest; free first consultations with clients who are otherwise billed at a firm’s normal rates; legal assistance provided under a grant of legal assistance from Legal Aid; contingency fee arrangements or other speculative work which is undertaken with a commercial expectation of a fee; the sponsorship of cultural and sporting events, work undertaken for business development and other marketing opportunities; time spent by lawyers sitting on the board of a community organisation (including a community legal organisation) or a charity.
pro bono legal work	See pro bono legal services
pro bono service provider	See pro bono provider
regional area	a regional city or large town that is outside of the state capital, but is a large centre in its own right. Examples are Mount Gambier, Albany, Alice Springs, Mount Isa, Burnie, Geelong, Wollongong and Queanbeyan.
pro bono lawyer	a lawyer (whether acting as an employee of a firm, or as an individual volunteer) or a barrister providing pro bono legal services
pro bono referral schemes and organisations	Pro bono referral schemes and organisations facilitate the efficient provision of pro bono legal services by acting as an intermediary between people or organisations in need of legal assistance and the lawyers willing to assist. Pro bono referral organisations are generally⁶ membership-based (for example Justice Connect, JusticeNet SA and QPILCH). In other jurisdictions, these organisations are also referred to as pro bono clearing houses (for example, PILnet’s Global Pro Bono Clearinghouse). Pro bono referral schemes are not membership based and in Australia are run by law societies or other organisations (for example, the Cancer Council).
pro bono provider	an individual or organisation providing pro bono legal services, and may include law firms, in-house/corporate legal departments, government lawyers, individual solicitors and barristers
QPILCH	Queensland Public Interest Law Clearing House
regional area	a regional city or large town that is outside the State capital, but is a large centre in its own right.
remote area	an area far from the nearest regional centre or small town, which may be difficult as well as time-consuming to reach from the nearest population centre by road
RRR	regional, rural and remote
rural area	either in a small town that is dependent on rural industries, or is outside of such a town
small law firm	For the purpose of this book, a small law firm is one with fewer than 50 full-time equivalent lawyers.
Target	see National Pro Bono Aspirational Target