For practitioners
We supply skilled law students to legal professionals, barristers, Community Legal Centres, non-government organisations and charities to help with pro bono or public interest matters. Barristers can find out more about our Barrister Assistance Team here.
We maintain a roster of around 500 students which we select from on your behalf. Assistance may range from a few days to months, to entire semesters or up to a year.
How students can assist
The types of work students can assist with include:
- legal research
- casework assistance and preparation for proceedings such as proof-reading submissions, preparing chronologies and lists of authorities, analysing evidence and transcripts
- assistance in court
- legal research for policy or legislative submissions to government
- drafting community legal education
- design/updating of legal materials such as fact-sheets
- bequest legal assistance.
Benefits
- skilled students with a strong work ethic matched to your task or project
- the opportunity to inspire the next generation of lawyers
- UQ insurance coverage (professional, public liability and personal accident)
- in some cases, academic oversight of students work.
Limitations
Assistance provided by law students through the UQ Pro Bono Centre is for the purposes of your pro bono or public interest work only. Student assistance is not for general unpaid labour/work experience.
Students undertake pro bono work on top of various other educational and work commitments. It cannot, therefore, be guaranteed that a student will be able to continue to assist with your pro bono work for any longer than the timeframe originally advised to the Centre.
Hear from some of our students reflecting on their pro bono experience:
Please complete the form below to request pro bono assistance and then click the submit button.
We will contact you to discuss your request and to frame up a student placement description.