As recently reported, Australian lawyers have set a record for the volume of pro bono work undertaken, going from 700,910 hours completed in the 2022–23 financial year to 781,596 hours in the most recent financial year, for an 11.5 per cent increase.

The data comes from the Australian Pro Bono Centre’s (APBC) 17th Annual Performance Report, which analyses the pro bono work being undertaken by signatories to the National Pro Bono Target, a voluntary benchmark of 35 hours per lawyer, per year.

For in-house lawyers and teams, the Target is set at 20 hours.

Signatories to the Target, from sole practitioners to global law firms, report annually to APBC on their performance against that benchmark. The annual report anonymises signatories.

On average, lawyers covered by the Target completed 39.6 hours of pro bono work in FY2023–24, marking the highest hourly average since 2021 and an increase of 1.3 hours on last year.

At the big end of town, 58 large law firms (i.e. businesses with 50 or more FTE lawyers) reported on the pro bono hours of 18,263 lawyers. This cohort reported an average of 39.7 hours of pro bono work per lawyer, a 2.7-hour increase from FY22–23. Just over one in two large firms (51.7 per cent) met or exceeded the target, for an increase of 30 firms from 27 last year.

Among law departments, just nine in-house teams reported on their pro bono undertakings in FY23–24, with a total of 667 hours being completed (down from 851 hours in FY22–23). In-house signatories completed an average of only 8.2 hours of pro bono legal work per lawyer in FY23–24, down from the average of 10.4 hours last year. Of the in-house teams reporting, just 37.5 per cent met or exceeded the 20-hour benchmark.

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Improvements can certainly be made for the abovementioned cohorts, but the report makes clear that small law firms and individual practitioners are punching above their weight.

The small firms (i.e. practices with fewer than 50 FTE lawyers) that reported in the last financial year undertook an average of 44 hours of pro bono work per lawyer. That is more than four hours on top of what those in larger firms completed.

This benchmark was down from the 50.2 hours performed per lawyer in small firms the previous year but still marks a notable increase compared to BigLaw.

The undertakings of small firms – which have fewer resources and capacities relative to the big end of town – are laudable. However, the efforts of individual solicitors and barristers are extraordinary.

In FY23–24, sixty-four sole practitioners reported on their pro bono undertakings – collectively, they completed 5,529 hours of work, for an average of 103.5 hours each.

On the presumption that a normal working day is nine-to-five, this equates to almost three weeks of pro bono completed per individual solicitor or barrister across the financial year.

Moreover, seven in 10 such practitioners reporting to APBC met or exceeded the Target last year, with almost nine in 10 expecting to do so in FY24–25.

When asked if APBC remains optimistic about the future of pro bono work being performed by the Australian legal profession, its chief executive, Gabriela Christian-Hare, responded in the affirmative, noting the sector continues to grow.

“This growth stems from the recognition that pro bono involvement is now expected and standard practice.

“Many small firms and sole practitioners provide pro bono assistance as part of their everyday practice,” she said.

“As pro bono practices become more formalised, through the appointment of dedicated pro bono lawyers – including at the partnership level – and otherwise, the sector is expected to strengthen and expand.”