Request Pro Bono assistance
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.
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.
Specialist assistance for barristers
As a result of a successful trial in 2017, we are now offering special assistance to barristers engaged in pro bono and public interest matters. Find out more about the Barrister Assistance Team.
Types of work
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.
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. Any work undertaken by our student must be limited to the particular pro bono project for which they originally nominated.
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.
Benefits
You will benefit from:
- 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)
There is also the potential for academic oversight of students work.
Given the limited instruction and turn-around time, I think [student] did a good job. Thanks again for sending [her] my way. It is pleasing to know that she has secured an associateship with a Federal Court Judge.
Many thanks for taking the trouble to prepare this helpful note.
I found [student's] work to be well-researched, on-point and delivered in a timely manner ... a direct brief .. it was great to be able to call on some additional assistance.
[Student] attended promptly, was appropriately attired and acquitted himself in a professional manner. He asked appropriate questions which reflected his knowldege of administrative law. I was quite impressed by him.
[Student] was wonderful. The way she structured her memo and the depth she went into was fantastic. She was also very prompt getting back to me and I could appreciate that she had put lots of excellent work and thought into what she'd done.
Please complete the form below to request pro bono assistance and then click the submit button.
We will contact you within 24 hours to discuss your request and to frame up a student placement description.