Pro Bono Award

The Law Society’s Pro Bono Award recognises a South Australian lawyer or organisation that has contributed to the profession or the community on or for a good benefit.

2025 Winner

Debrah Mercurio

Debrah is a Partner at Dentons who specialises in litigation, dispute resolution and migration, including in areas of contract, property, trusts, contested estates, consumer, and administrative law, and has been involved in providing pro bono services with JusticeNet SA and other organisations. In her pro bono work, Debrah has provided advice and representation to refugees through JusticeNet’s Refugee and Asylum Seeker Project and Pro Bono Connect on a number of files, as well as providing assistance to migration applications through JusticeNet’s Federal Court Self-Representation Service across a range of issues. Through JusticeNet’s Homeless Legal outreach clinic at Catherine House, Debrah has provided assistance to women facing homelessness, as well as being significantly involved raising money for JusticeNet’s Walk for Justice, being the top individual fundraiser in 2024. Abroad, Debrah has worked on access to justice and rule of law projects for government, intergovernmental organisations and international aid agencies.

2024 Winner - Johnson Winter Slattery

Johnson Winter Slattery’s South Australian pro bono team, coordinated by Eve Thomspon, support JusticeNet SA’s Homeless Legal Clinic at the South Australian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (SACAT). The weekly clinic helps vulnerable clients at risk of becoming homeless by providing advice about their tenancy and property rights and legal options, as well as providing assistance with preparing written statements for submission to SACAT, with a focus on preventing homelessness.

In the 2023-24 financial year, 22 JWS lawyers dedicated a total of 604 voluntary hours to the SACAT legal outreach clinic. This equates to about $200,000 worth of pro bono legal services through the SACAT clinic in 12 months.

JWS’s pro bono team also facilitates secondments to community legal centres and staff legal outreach clinics.

Nominations and Judging Panel

Nominations for the Pro Bono Award are called for each year prior to the Annual Legal Profession Gala Dinner, where the Award is presented, from Members of the Society. The call for nominations will be publicised here and via Law Society communication channels including InBrief and social media.

The conditions for nominations are:

1. Nominees are not required to be Members of the Society.
2. Individual Nominees are required to be admitted legal practitioners.
3. Nominators must be Members of the Society.
4. Self-nominations are not accepted.
5. The nomination will be submitted on the Law Society website via the online process;
• Name and contact details of nominator
• Name and contact details of nominee
• Name and contact details of two referees who can attest that the nominee meets the Award criteria; and
• Description of the achievements of the nominee that address the Award criteria (Maximum 400 words).
6. Nominees who are unsuccessful for an award in a given year will be included for consideration for the award in the following three years (subject to the nominee continuing to meet the award criteria and in the absence of the nominee, nominator or seconder withdrawing the nomination).
7. A nominee/s must not be the subject of charges before the Legal Practitioners’ Disciplinary Tribunal or the Supreme Court for unsatisfactory conduct or professional misconduct, or be a person suspended from practice.
8. The judging panel for each award will consider nominations and make a final decision on the suitability of the nominee for the Award.
9. The judging panel may decide that an award not be conferred in a given year, should there not be a suitably meritorious nominee.

The Judging Panel for the Pro Bono Award comprises of the President and the Executive Members.

For more information about the Law Society Awards

Contact the Law Society's Secretariat team on (08) 8229 0200 or via email [email protected].