By and -

Snapshot

  • In the last 30 years, there has been virtually zero study into the work and experiences of duty lawyers in any single Australian jurisdiction.
  • After two years of interviewing over 50 legal aid lawyers in six jurisdictions, new research highlights the need to reconceptualise duty lawyers as what they truly are: first responders.
  • Adapting our lexicon and understanding of duty lawyers may improve access to justice for vulnerable people, build public trust in our legal system and generate government support for duty lawyers.

We don’t typically think of lawyers as first responders. The common image of lawyers places them in offices framed by books, or in court making deliberate and reasoned submissions. Yet, there is another context to practising law that is fundamentally an emergency response; where the lawyer must provide immediate assistance at a time of legal crisis; where any delay can have significant, negative consequences for the client, the court and the justice system; where it becomes meatball lawyering. This is duty lawyering.

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