Fires in Australia burned tens of thousands of acres and destroyed thousands of buildings and homes. (Photo: David Gray/Bloomberg)

Lawyer Rick Mitry has seen firsthand the devastation that Australia's bush fires have wrought on local residents.

"There are a lot of people who, quite frankly, are still traumatized and they don't know which way to go," said Mitry, who splits his time between Sydney and Exeter, a town about two hours' drive southwest of Sydney in the midst of a bush fire-affected region.

Mitry is one of hundreds of lawyers who are donating their time and expertise in the wake of the bush fires, which burned an estimated 18.6 million hectares or 72,000 square miles, destroyed around 6,000 buildings including nearly 3,000 homes and killed at least 34 people. An estimated one billion animals were killed, with fears some will be driven to extinction.

"All of a sudden, people don't have a house and they're living in somebody's caravan or in the back of somebody's house and they've lost all of their personal belongings. It makes it a bit difficult for them to think that they can get up and get going again," he said.

When Mitry saw how people were struggling, the commercial lawyer put a note on his firm's website offering pro bono legal advice, in particular with claims to insurance companies, which he said "tend to make things difficult even at times like this."

"A number of the people have rung and said, 'Look, I just don't understand my insurance policy. Do you mind if I email you a copy or if I send a copy to you and you sort of translate it for me?' said Mitry, who heads Sydney-based commercial litigation firm Mitry Lawyers with his son. "And I think the fact that there's somebody there ready to help, they feel a bit more hopeful about things."

A deluge of rain in eastern Australia over the past few days has extinguished many of the bush fires—and brought flooding to some areas—but the fires have left unprecedented devastation in their wake.

While Mitry is already providing advice to those struggling with the aftermath of the fires, many other lawyers have volunteered to help when their pro bono services are needed. These include lawyers with large global law firms, including Norton Rose Fulbright, Herbert Smith Freehills, and Ashurst.

"One of the biggest issues with these large-scale disasters is getting the help-seeker the help they need at the time they need it. Right now, people are still focused on the basics: on food, shelter, water, keeping the roof over their head," explained Brendan Lacota, the manager of the public interest law team at JusticeConnect, which is coordinating most of the pro bono effort.

"We're looking at about three months before the legal issues really start to present themselves."

Lawyers at the front lines of the pro bono effort in affected communities are currently carrying out what Lacota calls the "initial triage." These local volunteers and government-funded Legal Aid lawyers are identifying the next step for the help-seekers and directing them where to seek assistance.

JusticeConnect operates as a charity and provides legal services across Australia and runs a pro bono brokering service. In fact, it was established by several large law firms to help them connect with the community and find cases of unmet legal needs for their pro bono efforts.

Much of the advice they expect lawyers to be providing is around business continuity insurance, insurance for property damage, matters around tenancy and essential utilities, as well as banking, mortgages and credit.

They also expect probate matters. "As you can imagine, administering a deceased estate under normal circumstances is challenging; but when your property has been destroyed and all your documentation has been destroyed, administering that estate becomes a whole other level of difficult," says Lacota's colleague Kate Fazio, who led the development of a digital tool called Pro Bono, which is being used along with other digital tools as part of the bush fire disaster response.

A total of 151 law firms across Australia, ranging from sole practitioners to multinationals, have expressed interest in joining the pro bono effort. "What has been really telling has been that expression of compassion and keenness to help from across the profession regardless of size," Lacota said.

The legal effort is expected to last years in some cases.

"We have opted in to assist bush fire victims through the [Justice Connect] online portal and we look forward to considering and accepting where possible referrals to assist bush fire victims, in the same way we do for other disadvantaged and vulnerable people," said Norton Rose Fulbright managing partner Wayne Spanner.

"Given the scale of devastation in Australia, we expect there will be pro bono legal needs for bush fire victims for months and years to come, along with substantial efforts to preserve and protect our natural environment."

Stephen Somerville, a senior associate in Herbert Smith Freehills' pro bono and citizenship practice, said the firm is ready to contribute its commercial legal skills when needed by Justice Connect. "Our lawyers have experience in a wide range of areas of law relevant to the bush fire crisis, including employment, credit/debt, insurance, tenancy and property issues," he said.

Global firm Ashurst has also joined the bush fire pro bono effort via Justice Connect.

The firm already had a focus in its pro bono work on rural, regional and remote Australians and on climate crisis and resilience, said Sarah Morton-Ramwell, global pro bono partner.

"The damage from the bush fire crisis will cause a ripple effect amongst some of our most disadvantaged communities. We hope to provide resources to bolster and support the response of front line community lawyers," she said.

Ashurst is also seconding its national pro bono manager to the bush fire effort.

"We are focused on using our resources to support the immediate and long-term needs of community groups and individuals working on the frontline bush fire relief," Morton-Ramwell said.

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