During my term as President of the Law Society of NSW, I’ve seen countless ways solicitor members serve their profession, their colleagues, clients and the broader community. It’s nothing less than awe inspiring.

More than 500 firms participate in our Pro Bono Scheme, from small regional practices already bearing heavy loads of complex and difficult legally aided matters which often don’t cover operating costs, to firms with dedicated pro-bono lawyers, or even whole teams dedicated to finding justice for those without the means to obtain proper representation.

This important work is why my first Presidential Priority this year has been to honour solicitors’ service to their communities – service that reflects the finest traditions of our profession and is performed by practitioners across all sectors. Our Justice Doesn’t Hibernate Winter Pro Bono Drive 2025 is featured in this week’s Monday Briefs, aiming to grow the number of firms making a difference through our Pro Bono Scheme.

Solicitors who work outside the private legal sector also adopt innovative approaches to find effective ways to serve their communities. This week, I am drawing attention to the work of Government Solicitors, whose day-to-day work can involve advising and acting for any of our three tiers of government; prosecuting alleged offenders with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions; or defending them as part of ‘NSW’s largest law firm’, Legal Aid NSW.

In 2022, Anthony Levin, Manager and Senior Solicitor of Legal Aid NSW’s Human Rights Team, proposed to study ‘how the unmet health needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people contribute to the cycle of incarceration’.

This proposal won the John Hennessy Legal Scholarship, sponsored by our Government Solicitors Committee, which supports public sector or community legal centre solicitors to study legal systems in other jurisdictions or undertaking further research.

As part of the scholarship, Anthony travelled to Canada to study initiatives in the prison system in British Columbia (BC), where there’s a similar Indigenous overrepresentation problem to that experienced here in Australia.

Anthony discovered in BC an Indigenous health program helping Indigenous people navigate the health system that he noted could be useful in our justice system.

When Anthony returned from Canada, he brought with him some gifts to pass to the Elders in the NSW Walama Court. These were presented during a moving meeting at Central Court earlier this month. Anthony will be writing an in-depth piece about his research in the October edition of the Law Society Journal. Until then, you can read more about Anthony and his research.

The service Anthony has given in undertaking this research could have a profound impact on helping Indigenous people in custody break the cycle of incarceration.

The Law Society and our Government Solicitors Committee remain committed to supporting solicitors in the sector who have ideas that can help improve our community. If you’re one of them, I encourage you to nominate for the John Hennessy Legal Scholarship here. Entries close next Monday, 25 August.

I’m looking forward to presenting the Scholarship at the Government Solicitors Conference at NSW Parliament House on Wednesday, 3 September.

Jennifer Ball, President, Law Society of NSW