Hundreds walk for free legal service

BY SIMON NICHOLS

Almost 200 people braved the early morning cold weather in Sydney’s Hyde Park to participate in one of Australia’s first ever Law Walks to be held across four cities.
The group walked around the Botanic Gardens to help raise money for the Public Interest Law Clearing House (PILCH) and the Public Interest and Advocacy Centre (PIAC), who grant free legal support for people who can’t afford proper advice or representation.
Leading the way was NSW Attorney-General John Hatzistergos and Justice Peter McClellan, Chief Judge of Common Law.
It is the first event of its kind in Australia, and was modelled on the annual London Legal Sponsored 10km Walk for Justice. The UK walk is a 10 km circle around London’s legal landmarks, starting at the Royal Courts of Justice then ending at the Law Society.
In NSW, co-organiser Jessica Willis said the event had gained a great deal of support and interest since it had been announced.
‘The primary reason for the event was to raise money for PILCH so that we can expand what we are already doing,’ Ms Willis said. ‘We handle a large number of pro-bono referrals and the extra-funding would help in areas where we spend a lot of our attention such as stolen generation wages and predatorial lending.
‘At the moment we have raised over $12,000 and there is still more coming in,’ she said. ‘Adelaide, Melbourne and Brisbane also held successful law walks but at present, Sydney raised the most. So we are very happy with the result.’
Law firm Freehills raised the most money, bringing in a total of $3,600. One individual raised $600.
After a tough start to the morning, those teams and individuals who raised the most money were shouted to a gourmet breakfast. About forty people attended, including the event organizers and the many volunteers, with Freehills generously picking up the tab.