Pro bono

We have a long history of providing pro bono legal services, and we consider pro bono legal work to be a vital part of our cultural make-up. Not only does pro bono provide our lawyers with an opportunity to give back to the communities in which we operate, we also believe that pro bono can make a genuine difference to our clients.

Our focus areas

Our pro bono practice is led by national pro bono partner, Chris Owen, and complements our broader strategic focus on ESG. It is defined by three impact pillars and three focus themes. Targeting these specific legal areas helps us to build our expertise and provide more impactful outcomes.

Impact pillars

We specialise in supporting legal projects that:

• Benefit the environment or increase the sustainable use of resources.
• Assist individuals suffering with poor mental health or living with disabilities.
• Protect international human rights, particularly projects that support refugees, reduce modern slavery, help prevent financial abuse, and promote human rights through sport.

Focus themes

Overlaying these priority areas, our pro bono team focuses on three cross-cutting themes which are to:

• Actively seek out projects benefiting First Nations communities, particularly in the three areas of specialism above.
• Use strategic litigation to seek to deliver wide-reaching positive social change.
• Embrace the use of legal innovation and digital solutions to improve the efficiency of pro bono services.

Our impact

We’re proud of our contribution to pro bono, and in FY22 we completed more than 28,000 hours of pro bono work across Australia.

Within our practice and priority themes we act for disadvantaged or marginalised people who cannot afford legal services; non-profit organisations that support those individuals; and public interest matters of broad public or community concern that would not otherwise be pursued.

We also have a strong commitment to community legal centres through the provision of volunteer lawyers to legal clinics. Many of our lawyers have engaged in pro bono secondments to entities including Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Immigration Advice and Rights Centre, Refugee Advice and Casework Services, Jawun, Anti-Slavery Australia and Settlement Services International in Sydney; Justice Connect, Refugee Legal and Human Rights Law Centre in Melbourne; Caxton Community Legal Centre and Refugee and Immigration Legal Services in Brisbane; and the Circle Green Community Legal Centre in Perth.

More information

For more information on our pro bono practice, please email us.

Please note that we do not accept direct requests for legal assistance. If you need legal assistance, we recommend that you contact your local Legal Aid or Community Legal Centre.

If you are unable obtain assistance from Legal Aid or a Community Legal Centre, you can request a pro bono referral through your state’s law society pro bono referral scheme or through Justice Connect (NSW and Victoria), JusticeNet (South Australia), LawRight (Queensland), Law Access (Western Australia) and Everyday Justice (every state and territory).