The Australian Pro Bono Centre (APBC) has released its 15th Annual Performance Report, detailing the volume of hours worked by signatories across the last financial year.

The report shows that, in FY22, Australian lawyers, barristers, law firms and in-house teams completed a “record total” of 645,509 hours of pro bono work, a 0.55 per cent increase on the 641,966 hours of pro bono legal work in the 2021 financial year, as well as that completed in FY20.

The volume of pro bono hours completed by Australia’s legal profession has exploded since FY18, at which time the profession completed 414,844 hours of such service.

Target signatories reported undertaking 37 hours of pro bono services per lawyer in FY22, on average, exceeding the target of 35 hours. This was slightly down from last year’s average figure of 39.7 hours per lawyer, but this is attributable, APBC deduced, to the rise in the number of lawyers covered by the target this year compared to last: 17,463, up from 16,435.

Almost half (47.3 per cent) of signatories met their respective targets in FY22, up from last year’s figure of 45.3 per cent.

The report also noted that there are now 280 signatories to the target, up from 270 last year, for an increase of 6.3 per cent.

Speaking about the findings, APBC chief executive Gabriela Christian-Hare said that the target community has “continued to broaden and adapt to respond to the needs of the most vulnerable, as well as the community organisations that support them”.

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“Amidst climatic and political challenges across the globe, the centre has seen an outstanding pro bono response,” she said.

“The profession has continued to support a wide range of clients but has dedicated additional time and resources to assist those affected by the pandemic, a range of natural disasters, and to respond to the plight of Afghan refugees and the invasion of Ukraine.”

Individual solicitors, barristers

Solicitors and barristers volunteering in a personal capacity have had an “outstanding” year, APBC reported.

Those individuals completed an average of 100.7 pro bono hours in FY22, marking a “significant” increase on the 70.18 hours, on average, undertaken last year.

Overall, 64 individual solicitors and barristers reported a total of 6,442 pro bono hours in FY22, with 39 (61 per cent) of those individuals meeting or exceeding the target.

Promisingly, more than four in five (81 per cent) expect to meet the target in FY23.

Smaller firms

The SME market had a stellar year in its pro bono efforts.

Ninety-seven small law firms (i.e., firms with fewer than 50 lawyers) reported on the pro bono hours of 1,027 FTE lawyers, with an average of 42.3 hours per lawyer being completed in FY22, an increase from the 41.2 hours completed in the previous year.

Of the small firms reporting, 43 (44 per cent) met or exceeded the target, up from 36 in FY21, and 81 per cent of them expect to meet the target in FY23.

Markedly, the rate of pro bono participation of small firm lawyers has increased substantially, with over three in four (77.2 per cent) of said lawyers doing pro bono work during the year, up from 71.8 per cent in FY21.

Larger firms

It was a slightly different story at the big end of town, however.

The report noted that 57 large legal practices (i.e., firms or incorporated practices with 50 or more FTE lawyers), with a cumulative 16,274 practitioners, reported hours in FY22.

These lawyers in the big end of town reported an average of 36.6 hours per individual, down from 39.5 hours in FY21.

Less than two in five (39 per cent), or just 22 large firms, met or exceeded the target of 35 hours per lawyer. Moreover, just 35 of those 57 (61 per cent) expect to meet the target in FY23.

The participation rate in large law firms was just over one in two (54 per cent), marking a stark contrast from the aforementioned participation rate in smaller firms.

Ms Christian-Hare said that the centre is appreciative of the efforts of large law firms, which contribute more than 90 per cent of the total pro bono hours nationally.

“However, with only 39 per cent of large law firms achieving the target in FY22, the centre is looking to support firms that are lagging behind to catch up,” she said.

“The centre continues to develop tools to support and encourage pro bono practice.”

In-house teams

Just over two years ago, the target was opened to law departments. Completing such pro bono work, Ms Christian-Hare told Lawyers Weekly, is an “incredible opportunity” for in-house lawyers looking to expand their horizons.

This was the first year that APBC reported on the hours completed by those in-house, with an initial target set of 20 hours per lawyer per annum.

In FY22, 10 in-house teams reported on the pro bono hours of 69 FTE lawyers, with 623 hours being completed. On average, teams reported nine pro bono hours being completed per lawyer, on average, this year.

Individual in-house lawyers reported better numbers: 12 individuals reported a total of 533 pro bono hours, with those individuals completing an average of 49.8 hours of pro bono work in FY22.

Further reflections

APBC chair Phillip Cornwell said that as the centre celebrates its 20th anniversary, it is “gratifying to see the continued growth in both total pro bono hours and the number of lawyers covered by the target”.

“That said, the total pro bono hours would be far higher if all firms at least met the target,” he submitted.

“So, once again, I encourage governments and corporates to actively test just how much of a contribution each of their panel firms is making to the pro bono effort to bridge the yawning access to justice gap.”

Looking ahead, Ms Christian-Hare said that as the centre celebrates being in operation for two decades, these target results confirm that “pro bono is a well-established feature of legal practice”.

This said, she added, there remains “room to continue to grow”.

“As Australia emerges from the pandemic and lawyers seek more meaning from their working lives, the benefits of pro bono involvement cannot be overstated. Law firms and in-house teams are also able to use pro bono work to build their reputations as employers of choice and enhance their ability to attract and retain talented staff,” Ms Christian-Hare posited.

“The ‘unstoppable rise of purpose’ has injected new energy into the once fringe view that business has a function beyond generating profits, propelling pro bono up the priority agenda.”