National Pro Bono Movement

STATEMENT OF PRINCIPLES

MINDFUL of the professional responsibility of all lawyers to provide pro bono legal services to address the unmet legal needs of the poor and disadvantaged in the communities in which we live, and

RECOGNISING that pro bono is not a substitute for the proper funding by government of Legal Aid agencies, Community Legal Centres and other government funded legal services.

OUR PRACTICE is pleased to join with other practices across the country in subscribing to the following statement of principles and in pledging our best efforts to achieve the voluntary target described below.

Our practice recognises its professional obligation to provide pro bono legal services

In furtherance of that obligation, our practice agrees to encourage and support the provision of pro bono legal services by all its lawyers.

We agree to use our best efforts to ensure that, by no later than 30 June in each year, our practice's lawyers will undertake an average of a minimum of 35 hours of pro bono legal services each year per lawyer.

In furtherance of these principles, our practice also agrees:

• To provide training and supervision as required to enable our lawyers to meet the need for pro bono legal services in the community in matters undertaken by our practice and
• To monitor the practice's progress towards the targets established in this statement and to report its progress annually to the partners and staff of the practice and to the Australian Pro Bono Centre.

We acknowledge that when a lawyer provides pro bono legal services, he or she owes the pro bono client the same professional and ethical obligations that are owed to any paying client and accordingly the lawyer must give that work the same priority, attention and care as would apply to paid work.

If you would like us to provide pro bono legal services, get in touch.