This November marks four years of ExpertsDirect Pro Bono, which has continued to expand the reach of its expert witness services to those experiencing disadvantage.
Trends from the 2020-2021 Period
Last year, inquiries from corporate pro bono initiatives surged to 75% of all pro bono inquiries we received (up from 62% in the 2019-2020 year). We assisted with an equal number of matters from community legal centres and not-for-profit organisations as last year, but these amounted to only 25% of all pro bono cases with which we assisted.
The proportion of corporate pro bono interest in ExpertsDirect Pro Bono’s services has grown every year since the service’s inception. We anticipate pro bono matters from corporate firms to constitute even higher percentages of our total pro bono workload in years to come.
Medical and psychiatric expert witnesses opinions remain the most frequently sought after assistance by pro bono clients. Uncharacteristically, the service also received a sharp influx of pro bono and low-cost building and construction experts for domestic disputes and smaller construction suits in the last 12 months.
Snapshots and Highlights
The Australian Pro Bono Centre partners with ExpertsDirect Pro Bono to facilitate means testing and other administrative processes critical to our Pro Bono service. Their help has been indispensable to the operation of ExpertsDirect Pro Bono and our understanding of the Australian legal pro bono space.
Our partnership with the Australian Pro Bono Centre also connects us to a greater network of legal pro bono initiatives supported by Centre. ExpertsDirect Pro Bono’s fourth anniversary therefore marks several years of participation in a collective effort to create a more equitable and sustainable society by improving access to justice.
We are greatly appreciative of the opportunity to help grow the Australian Pro Bono Centre’s leadership and activism in Australian pro bono work as a member of their legal pro bono community. You can read about the contribution of ExpertsDirect Pro Bono, other pro bono initiatives, and ExpertsDirect’s pro bono lawyers and experts to the project to close the justice gap below:
ExpertsDirect in the latest Pro Bono Voco
Experts Direct Pro Bono trends from the previous year
Interviews with a Pro Bono Lawyer and Expert