Smokeball Launches Second Annual Community Hero Award
The Smokeball Community Hero Award returns for a second year to acknowledge the impactful work that small law firms conduct in their communities. Honouring the legal industry members who go above and beyond to serve and enrich their local communities, nominations through the Smokeball website are open now and close on 30 January 2023.
Entrants can nominate themselves or a legal colleague to celebrate inspiring achievements in the following areas:
- Providing pro bono services and closing the justice access gap
- Promoting inclusion and diversity for underrepresented groups
- Supporting charities and community groups
- Sustainability initiatives for the environment
- Random acts of kindness
The winner will be rewarded with a $5000 travel voucher to go towards a trip of their choosing, and five runners-up will receive a luxury hamper valued at $200.
“The saying that not all heroes wear capes is certainly true for the lawyers, paralegals, conveyancers and their support teams across Australia”, says Bianca Bowron-Cuthill, General Manager, Smokeball. “We are moved daily by our clients who make such a difference in their communities whether it is providing pro bono or discounted services to disadvantaged groups or people, volunteering in key community roles, or developing innovative tools and platforms to advance access to justice for everyone. We applaud these legal heroes and want to reward them with the recognition they never seek but deserve”.
Last year, Thomas Mathew from Unite Legal was the inaugural Smokeball Community Hero Award winner through his significant community and pro-bono work supporting the culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) community in Melbourne, including the South Sudanese and Malaysian communities. Thomas’s work ranges from representing victims of racial discrimination to advocating and educating on the legal issues that face immigrants in Victoria and nationwide.
Nominations are open from today until Monday, 30 January 2023, on the Smokeball website.
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