Australasian Legal Business
April 24, 2012
“A growing number of in-house legal teams are pitching in and taking on pro bono legal work. In-house legal managers and lawyers have been able to establish pro bono programs in recent years as a result of changes to practicing and insurance rules regarding legal advice in NSW, Queensland, and most recently Victoria.
In May 2009 the National Pro Bono Resource Centre (NPBRC) introduced a Professional Indemnity Insurance Scheme to encourage lawyers that work in corporations and government to undertake pro bono legal work. The scheme removed one of the key constraints to pro bono work, which was the need for in-house lawyers to have professional indemnity (PI) insurance to cover them for any civil claims arising from their pro bono legal work.”