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.