Pro Bono
Supporting Community Legal Centres in justice advocacy and unmet legal need.
Understanding complexity.
Our pro bono team is committed to learning about the patterns, structures and underlying causes that create social unfairness. We are committed to running a pro bono practice that responds appropriately to justice issues and unmet legal need. We prioritise the voice and experience of front line advocates and the clients they serve.
Drafting on Systemic Reform.
We recognise the essential contribution of front line legal lawyers in responding to systemic injustice. Our practice is committed to supporting their work with legal analysis, literature reviews and advocacy writing. Since our practice formalised in 2021 we have provided over 7800 hours of systemic reform support.
We have written extensively on issues including coercive control, domestic violence, economic abuse, access to justice issues in family law, impoverishment and rights for transgender communities.
Providing representation and advice.
Our commercial teams provide pro bono representation and advice to individuals and organisations in various matters including employment litigation and corporate disputes.
Supporting Front Line Clinics.
Our lawyers provide advice and support to legal outreach clinics including Baptist Care Homeless Legal Clinic, Adelaide; Mental Health Legal Tribunal, Victoria; Marrickville Legal Centre, Sydney and Western Sydney Community Legal Centre Employment Law Clinic, Sydney.
Pro Bono leader and practitioner.
Jilly Field
PrincipalSydney
Jilly is a leading pro bono practitioner who has directed programs in firms for over a decade. She strategically transforms pro bono practices through the development of projects focused on both realistic justice solutions and ghost writing on law reform for front-line advocates. Jilly provides both direct legal assistance and facilitates scaled legal support.
As Gilchrist Connell’s pro bono leader and practitioner, Jilly brings her commercial and front-line experience to deliver measured responses to support communities facing unfairness. Jilly has worked in areas of poverty law, animal rights, domestic and family violence, systemic reform, and defence for children in the criminal justice system. Jilly has worked on secondment to numerous front-line community legal organisations including, Aboriginal Legal Services, PILCH NSW (Justice Connect), Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Community Legal Centres NSW and front-line homeless and women’s refugee clinics.
Jilly is a critical thinker and thought leader. Her focus on justice theory, the nuance of corporate response to unfairness and ethics has led to her regularly speaking on issues including; critically thinking through pro bono, conscious lawyering, the ethics of advocacy writing and gender rights. Jilly is committed to driving moral thinking and ethical decision making through both her matter practice and front-line response. Jilly works to a Pro Bono Values Statement that prioritises the authority of lived experience and care ethics.
Her law reform programs have been nominated as highly commended in the Asia Pacific Innovative Law Awards – Rule of Law and Access to Justice across 4 years and has formed the basis of strategic pro bono support across multiple firms. Jilly is on the board of Community Legal Centres NSW, Women’s Legal Service NSW and Transcend Australia. Jilly is a Fellow of Ethics (Cranlana Centre for Ethical Leadership) and is a student of Sociology (Masters University of New England).
Jilly was awarded Lawyers Weekly Pro Bono Partner of the year 2023.
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We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians throughout Australia and their connection to land, culture, waters and skies. We pay our respect to the communities, the people, and Elders past, present and emerging.
Liability limited by a scheme approved under Professional Standards Legislation. Legal Practitioners employed by and the directors of Gilchrist Connell Pty Ltd are members of the scheme.