Pro bono: legal services undertaken

voluntarily and without payment as a public

service

Examining the value of Pro Bono work:

For who?

1. Students

2. The public

3. The courts

4. Universities

About Community Legal Practice

6 unit topic

Held in summer and semesters 1 and 2 each year.

Joint initiative between the Adelaide and Flinders Law Schools

Enrolment quota of 8 students from Flinders

All places are currently with the Adelaide Magistrates Court Legal Advice Clinic

4 Flinders and 4 Adelaide students work at the clinic each Thursday

Students attend fortnightly seminars

Assessment includes a professional journal and an ‘access to justice’ project

About Community Legal Practice

Our Personal Goals

Examining the value of Pro Bono work:

1. For the Students participating at the clinic

Our experiences include several compulsory practical exercises:

conduct at least 3 interviews with clients

carry out conflict searches

open new files and close existing ones

observe court hearings

Examining the value of Pro Bono work:

1. For the Students participating at the clinic

Interviewing

Conflict Searches

Opening and Closing Files

Other experiences:

opportunities to draft pleadings

write letters of advice and opinion

perform research at the Adelaide Supreme Court Library

Examining the value of Pro Bono work:

1. For the Students participating at the clinic

Observing Court Hearings

Examining the value of Pro Bono work:

1. For the Students participating at the clinic

Other experiences cont.:

exposure to a variety of practice areas

• Develop time management skills

Examining the value of Pro Bono work:

1. For the Students participating at the clinic

The Clinic’s fabulous staff!

From Flinders University:

Rachel Spencer

Grant Niemann

David Bamford

The Clinic’s fabulous staff!

From Adelaide University:

Margaret Castles Georgina Hone

The Clinic’s fabulous staff!

Managing Solicitor:

Christine Christopolous

Support from the Magistrates Court Registry

Support from the Court’s Administration Authority:

Our new location!

Support from the Court’s Administration Authority:

Our new location!

Support from the Court’s Administration Authority:

Our new location!

Support from the Court’s Administration Authority:

Our new location!

Examining the value of Pro Bono work:

For who?

1. Students

2. The Public

3. The Courts

4. Universities

Examining the value of Pro Bono work:

2. For the Public Client Satisfaction Survey :

• 43 participants

36 positive responses

5 negative in some aspect responses

2 denied attendance

Examining the value of Pro Bono work:

2. For the Public Client Satisfaction Survey :

• Reasons For Attendance:

to gain advice about a legal matter involving a Defence or commencement of proceedings

procedural assistance for appearance or documentation

Reason for Attending Clinic

Help to f ill out Court forms or understanding

Court documents,

15%

Advice about a legal matter,

37%

Assistance in having to appear in

court, 13%

Other, 1%

Assistance to defend/

commence matter, 33%

Data and graph taken from “Client Survey Results” by Sally Cox et al

Examining the value of Pro Bono work:

2. For the Public

● Constructive Criticisms:

greater publicity

supervisor present at interviews

offer advice for criminal matters

• Positive responses

“ I felt supported”

“received invaluable assistance”

Client Satisfaction Survey :

Examining the value of Pro Bono work:

3. For the Courts • 668 files to date

• Caseflow Management

Examining the value of Pro Bono work:

3. For the Courts Dr Andrew Cannon

• Eases pressure off registry staff

• “When the clinic provides competent advice and ensures parties have realistic expectations, then it is an invaluable service for the court and the individuals involved.”

Examining the value of Pro Bono work: 3. For the Courts Dr Andrew Cannon cont.

• querulous litigants –

complaining in a petulant or whining manner

• majority of unrepresented litigants have genuine

and justifiable claims

• Magistrates need to be more aware of the clinic’s existence and services

Examining the value of Pro Bono work:

4. For Universities Perpetuating the Flinders Ethos

Think, Learn, Lead, Link

Examining the value of Pro Bono work:

4. For Universities Community Legal Practice enables us to:

THINK independently and

LEARN a range of skills that will assist in our development as lawyers.

We are LEADing the way to access justice and

LINKing Flinders University with the community.

Examining the value of Pro Bono work:

4. For Universities Promoting Community Legal Practice:

• Advocates legal work with a social focus

Promoting Community Legal Practice:

• expands on practical skills learnt from core law topics

Examining the value of Pro Bono work:

4. For Universities

Promoting Community Legal Practice:

• Strengthens relationship between Flinders and Adelaide Law schools

Examining the value of Pro Bono work:

4. For Universities

Examining the value of Pro Bono work:

4. For Universities Promoting Community Legal Practice:

• ensures that students find out about the topic

Community Legal PracticeThe Future

• Popularity growing

• Increasing demand for places

• Additional placements offered from Semester 2, 2007

Community Legal PracticeThe Future

Additional placements:

• 2 places at the Tenants Information and Advice Service

for students who have studied Housing Law

• 2 places at the Refugee Law and Policy Clinic

for students who have studied Australian Immigration & Refugee Law

In ConclusionToday we have:

• Talked to you about Community Legal Practice

• Explained how the Magistrates Court Legal Advice Clinic works

• Illustrated the positive impact the clinic has on students, the public, the court and universities

In Conclusion

We hope that you can raise awareness about this

topic amongst students and continue to support all pro bono work

undertaken by students and fellow staff from Flinders University

Thank you for your time!