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Category: Australia and Oceania

Pro Bono Values Project

November 17, 2016

“[I]t is the right thing to do. Everyone should have access to justice. A lot of people do not have access to justice because they cannot afford it. It is my spiritual view on humanity and my personal belief.” (Graduate Lawyer, Medium Law Firm.) We recently learned about an intriguing empirical study that examines the motivations of lawyers who participate in pro bono work. Over a four month period, the University of Queensland Pro Bono Centre at TC Beirne School of Law interviewed lawyers across Australia.  The lawyers came from firms of various sizes, practice areas, and seniority levels. The

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Slave Labor in Australia

May 15, 2015

According to the International Labour Organization’s 2012 Global Estimate of Forced Labour, there were an estimated 20.9 million people in forced labor around the world at any given point between 2002 and 2012. The majority of those individuals, 68 percent (14.2 million), were forced to work by private individuals or enterprise in activities such as agriculture, construction, domestic work, and manufacturing. In Australia, most investigations of forced labor have related to sexual exploitation. However, in March of this year, one victim of labor exploitation secured restitution, thanks to the help of pro bono counsel from Clayton Utz. On March 27,

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One New Zealand Law School’s New Hourly Requirement for Graduation

July 3, 2014

While mandating lawyers to participate in or report pro bono is a hotly debated topic these days, requiring law students to engage in pro bono has been more widely accepted in the U.S. A number of law schools require students to complete a certain number of hours of pro bono service before graduating. And as The PBEye previously reported, New York state recently implemented a rule which took effect on January 1, 2013, requiring prospective attorneys seeking admission to the bar to have first performed 50 hours of “law-related” pro bono service. Jumping across the world to New Zealand, starting

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In-House Pro Bono in Australia

January 24, 2014

This week The PBEye takes a look at pro bono down under where Telstra, one of the largest in-house legal departments in Australia, has expanded the company’s responsibility to be a good corporate citizen to include legal pro bono work.  Working with Justice Connect, the new name for the merged Public Interest Law Clearing Houses of the states of New South Wales and Victoria, Telstra’s legal department has provided hundreds of hours of pro bono assistance to underserved communities throughout Australia. The push to engage in direct legal services came from the legal team at Telstra.  A department of about

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Congrats to Victorian In-House Attorneys

June 5, 2012

Times have changed!  Until last month, “corporate practising certificates” applicable to in-house lawyers in Victoria, Australia, limited them to providing legal advice only to their employers.  This restriction prevented these lawyers from volunteering their services for pro bono work in the same manner as their law firm counterparts and in-house lawyers in other Australian states. Thankfully, the Legal Profession and Public Notaries Amendment Bill 2012 was passed by the Victorian Parliament on March 27, given Royal Assent on April 3, and became effective on May 2.  The bill amended the Legal Profession Act 2004 by lifting restrictions on in-house lawyers

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