Corrs has a long and proud history of promoting equality and justice in our society.
We encourage our people to get involved in our pro bono and community engagement program, which supports disadvantaged and marginalised individuals and groups, charities and not-for-profit organisations through pro bono legal work, volunteering and workplace giving.
Corrs is a signatory to the Australian Pro Bono Centre’s National Pro Bono Target. The National Pro Bono Target is a voluntary and aspirational target of at least 35 hours of pro bono legal services per lawyer per year.
To learn more about our pro bono and community program, read our latest Sustainability Report.
Pro bono
Our pro bono program is designed to uphold the principles of justice, equality and community, and plays an important role in delivering on the firm’s purpose to ‘imagine, inspire and together create a better future’.
These principles are given effect through our Pro Bono Policy and strategy which outline three pillars of strategic intent. These pillars constitute the focus of Corrs’ pro bono practice and align the firm’s commitments under the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Case studies – Enhancing access to justice
- Supporting community legal centres: Corrs lawyers advise on a range of access to justice matters including housing and tenancy issues, debt, immigration, infringements, family violence and victim of crime assistance, including providing support and research assistance to community legal centres (CLCs). Corrs supports CLCs across Australia to provide access to justice including the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia Inc, Circle Green Community Legal Centre, Community Legal Centres Association (WA), Footscray Legal Centre Inc, Justice Connect, LawRight, Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Refugee & Immigration Legal Centre, StreetLaw Centre WA Incorporated, the Arts Law Centre of Australia and the Women’s Legal Service Queensland.
- Seasonal clerks assist on landmark pro bono project: In collaboration with the National Justice Project and Jennifer Robinson of Doughty Street Chambers (London), a cohort of Seasonal Clerks from our Sydney office assisted Leetona Dungay, the mother of David Dungay Jr (an Indigenous man who died in custody), to explore the possibility of engaging a Special Procedure of the United Nations Human Rights Council to address allegations of human rights violation in relation to deaths in custody in Australia.
Case studies – Strengthening civil society
- Fostering diversity on company boards: Corrs provides pro bono support to the Australian LGBTQI+ Board and Executive Inclusion (ALBEI) on the state of the Australian legal landscape in relation to fostering LGBTQ+ diversity on company boards. Our work includes a broad analysis of diversity-related regulations and policies in other jurisdictions to inform and improve company policies and regulatory frameworks at a domestic level.
Case studies – Building a sustainable future
- Finding a pathway to enable a humanitarian exemption to sanctions regimes: Corrs’ dedicated sanctions working group, made up of humanitarian, human rights and legal experts, focuses on assisting humanitarian and other not-for-profit organisations to navigate Australia’s autonomous and United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions regimes and counter-terrorism financing regimes. This work helps to ensure these organisations can continue their life-saving work in countries including Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria and the Palestinian Territories.
- Protection from the adverse impacts of anthropogenic climate change: Corrs worked with UNICEF to identify the obligations of States under international law to protect children from the adverse impacts of anthropogenic climate change, and the relationship between such obligations and the principle of intergenerational equity. As part of this work, a memorandum was prepared to assist Pacific Island States in developing written submissions to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the advisory proceedings on the Obligations of States in Respect of Climate Change. The memorandum was distributed by UNICEF to States throughout the Pacific and a group of Corrs Partners presented to the Pacific States’ representatives on its findings and how it can be used to supplement and support State submissions to the ICJ.
- Examining the biodegradability of plastics: Corrs worked with the University of Queensland on a significant project to support research and innovation in relation to biodegradable plastics. This work culminated in a discussion paper which describes what is meant by biodegradable plastics and considers issues arising from the current state of play in terms of knowledge, policy, law and expectation. You can download the Biodegradability of plastics discussion paper here.
Community engagement
We hold events and offer volunteering opportunities to encourage partners and employees to volunteer through our community engagement program.
Some of the not-for-profit organisations we support include Australia for UNICEF, Beyond Blue, Hagar Australia, Movember, the National Breast Cancer Foundation, Dress for Success, LawRight, OzHarvest, Indigenous Literacy Foundation, RSPCA, STEPtember, Very Special Kids and Yalari. Corrs also supports EdConnect Australia and Daystar Foundation in working with students in disadvantaged communities to develop their literacy and social skills.