25 November 2005
Sydney, 25 November 2005: Clayton Utz's long-standing commitment to pro bono legal work has reached new heights with the appointment of national pro bono director David Hillard as a partner in the firm effective 1 January 2006.
In what is a first for a major commercial law firm, the appointment recognises the significance of the firm's pro bono practice and is a broad recognition of the importance of pro bono work to the firm's overall culture.
Announcing Mr Hillard's appointment, Clayton Utz chief executive partner David Fagan said he hoped the move would set a benchmark within the commercial legal world. "The firm has had an active and thriving pro bono practice for nearly a decade and we felt it was time that was reflected at the partnership level. Promoting David to the partnership not only recognises his leadership skills and contribution to building the pro bono practice but reflects the fact that pro bono is a core part of what it means to be a lawyer at Clayton Utz."
Mr Hillard said he was pleased to be able to represent the pro bono practice at the partnership level. "Since the firm introduced a full-time pro bono program in 1997, all of our lawyers have been encouraged to contribute their time towards helping those who would not otherwise have access to justice. The practice has continued to grow and the appointment reinforces our commitment to making pro bono work part of each of our lawyer's ordinary practice. "
Mr Hillard first became involved with pro bono work in 1992 while working as a young solicitor at Clayton Utz in Sydney. In addition to his regular legal work, he handled more than 20 matters that were referred to the firm by the Redfern Legal Centre. After a three year hiatus during which he worked for the Anti-Discrimination Board of NSW, Mr Hillard returned to Clayton Utz in 1997 as its national pro bono director, the first pro bono appointment by an Australian national firm.
At the time that Clayton Utz established its pro bono scheme in 1997, the firm performed approximately 1,000 hours of pro bono work each year. Last financial year, this figure had increased to around 26,100 hours - the equivalent of 16 full-time lawyers. Mr Hillard expects that Clayton Utz lawyers will undertake an anticipated 28,000 hours of pro bono work over the next financial year.
"Everybody in the firm knows that they will work with pro bono clients during the course of the year. We make sure that work is allocated to the lawyers with the most appropriate skills - whether those be in litigation, tax, commercial law or law reform. In spreading the work around, all lawyers have the chance to contribute," Mr Hillard said. The pro bono practice currently handles around 465 pro bono matters in-house, accounting for about 2.5 per cent of the firm's overall legal work.
In addition to the in-house matters, Clayton Utz provides staff to six face-to-face legal clinics around the country, including First Stop Legal and Referral Service for Young People in Canberra and the Public Interest Law Clearing House Homeless Persons' Legal Clinics in Melbourne, Parramatta and Brisbane. A more recent initiative, the Consumer Law Advice Clinic set up in July 2004 in conjunction with the Queensland Public Interest Law Clearing House and the University of Queensland Law School, won the Minister's Award for Excellence in Consumer Protection at the inaugural Queensland Consumer Protection Awards earlier this year.
The pro bono program also extends beyond Australia's commercial centres. Clayton Utz seconds a lawyer to Kimberley Community Legal Services in Kununurra in the remote east Kimberley region in Western Australia and is working with the Top End Women's Legal Service in the far-north to provide the first civil legal advice service to the indigenous community on Groote Eylandt off the east coast of Arnhem Land in the Gulf of Carpentaria.
