Written by Apoorva Abeysundera
INTRODUCTION
Public interest vs commercial, community legal centres vs top-tiers, pro bono vs billable hours. For most students, the choice feels like a fork in the road - pick one path and stick to it. But if the panellists at this year’s UQ Pro Bono Centre panel event showed anything, it was that real legal careers aren’t built on either/or. Pro bono work isn’t separate from the profession, it’s integral to the profession.
On National Pro Bono Day, the UQ Pro Bono Centre hosted a panel including a diverse, esteemed range of guests:
Peter Applegarth AM: Former Judge of the Queensland Supreme Court, former Chair of the Queensland Law Reform Commission and Patron of the UQ Pro Bono Centre.
Leanne Collingburn: Partner and Head of Pro Bono at HopgoodGanim Lawyers (a generous JATL sponsor). In 2024, her team won the QLS award for Pro Bono Team of the Year.
Josh Underwood: Barrister at 8PT Chambers with a diverse practice, including coronial, criminal, commercial and human rights matters.
Abi Ketheeswaran: Associate Pro Bono Lawyer at DWF in Brisbane. Abi is a UQ Law (and UQ Pro Bono Centre) alumnus.
The Evolving Nature of Pro Bono in Corporate Spaces
Abi Ketheeswaran, who is building a career in a corporate setting, emphasised that the pro bono culture within firms is evolving. Rather than being a side project or an obligation to tick off for client quotas, firms are increasingly recognising the reputational and internal value of maintaining strong pro bono practices. It supports recruitment, retention, and firm culture and speaks to the values of younger lawyers, who are thinking more critically about what kind of workplaces they want to join.
This shift was made apparent by Leanne Collingburn, the Head of Pro Bono at HopgoodGanim Lawyers. Leanne spoke about how she runs her practice on impact rather than hours billed. The firm works in three pro bono priority areas - First Nations, Environmental and Domestic violence.
HopgoodGanim’s pro bono portfolio includes work with First Nations start-ups, law reform efforts in civil regimes, and holistic and culturally-safe practices. It’s not an optional extra; it runs alongside commercial work, shaping the culture of the firm and the lawyers within it.
A Professional Advantage
Abi Ketheeswaran sees pro bono culture as evolving within firms. She talked about the importance of young lawyers upskilling early, learning how to manage a matter, engage with community partners, and understand policy levers.
Pro bono isn’t just the moral thing to do, it’s a career advantage. Josh Underwood called it a “turbocharge” for young lawyers. “You never know where it will take you,” he said, speaking from experience as he credited his career to it. Still, he emphasised that the main reason he does it isn’t strategic. “It’s the clients,” he said, simply.
Culture Over Charity
It’s tempting to frame pro bono work as something you do “to help.” But that risks positioning it as charity, or something reserved for lawyers with spare time.
Justice Peter Applegarth AM, argued that pro bono isn’t about obligation or optics. It’s about participating in a professional culture that values access to justice. "A little bit of representation can go a long way," he said. Even in cases where the law is stacked against your client, there’s always value in access and in dignity, in ensuring they’re treated fairly and heard properly.
As put in the panel, and at the risk of the typical law-student self-aggrandisement, there is a difference between being a lawyer and many other professions. Studying the law connotes a professional responsibility and privilege. Unlike most other fields, there’s a strong professional tradition of giving back: Australian lawyers, on average, perform around 40 hours of pro bono work each year. It’s not just encouraged, it’s embedded in the culture of the profession.
Pro Bono as the crux of your legal career
There is no romanticising pro bono work. It doesn’t fix structural inequality, nor does it absolve a profession with deep access barriers of its responsibilities. But it does offer a space, both symbolic and practical, for lawyers to act in service toward the rule of law.
That matters. Especially in a time when many are questioning whether the law is still a meaningful or ethical space to work in.
Student clinics, law reform projects, and research partnerships offer ways to meaningfully contribute while you’re still learning. And you gain something too: experience, networks, context, and confidence.
There’s no one path to making a difference. But what became clear from every speaker at the panel is that pro bono culture strengthens the profession, whatever area you work in. It builds resilience, empathy, and perspective. It doesn’t divide the profession; it rounds it out.