Multilaw members establish university bursary at annual conference

Posted: 02/11/2012

During the Multilaw annual conference held in Melbourne, Australia, at the end of October, lawyers made their third donation of the year under the Multilaw Billable Hour Project (a component of the Multilaw Pro Bono Mission), whereby Multilaw, the international network of independent law firms to which Penningtons belongs, raises funds from members to make significant cash donations to local charities selected by each conference hosting firm and the Multilaw Academy.

A donation of $10,000 was made to The Ormond College, University of Melbourne, to establish an Indigenous Residential Bursary in the name of Multilaw. The bursary will support an Indigenous student studying in 2013.

Some Indigenous people face serious economic disadvantages in Australia. One of the most important factors associated with improving employment and economic opportunities is education, particularly at university level.

“We are all very excited about this valuable assistance which will have such a positive impact on the life of an Indigenous student who will be at Ormond next year solely because of Multilaw,” said Dr Rufus Black, Master of Ormond College.

Multilaw chairman Mark Lowndes commented: "We understand Indigenous Australians continue to be under-represented in higher education, and are delighted to be supporting Ormond College's commitment to fostering the next generation of Indigenous leaders.”

Over 60 Multilaw law firm partners from around the world took part in the annual conference in Melbourne. Penningtons chief executive David Raine and corporate partner Charles Brooks were among the delegates.

This year Multilaw has also donated to Greek children's charity, The Smile of The Child, during the Multilaw EMEA conference in Athens in May, and Philabundance, the Philadelphia based food bank and hunger relief organisation, during the Multilaw Academy for young lawyers in August.

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