About the firm
Built as two firms, on purpose.
Salvos Legal isn't a commercial firm that happens to do some pro bono work on the side. It was set up from the outset as a pair of practices — one that charges fees, one that never does — joined at the ownership level under The Salvation Army.
The idea
A law firm that funds a law firm.
The concept is simple to state and unusual to actually build: run an ordinary, competent commercial legal practice, charge ordinary commercial rates, and direct what it earns toward a second practice that charges nothing at all. Rather than treating community legal work as a sideline, we built it as a co-equal firm with its own lawyers, its own clients and its own casework.
That structure means the humanitarian firm isn't dependent on whatever time commercial lawyers can spare between billable matters. It has dedicated staff, a defined service model, and a funding line that doesn't compete with anyone's other priorities.
The mission
Legal help shouldn't depend on your bank balance.
The Salvation Army has long worked with people doing it tough — through housing, family support, addiction recovery and emergency relief. A gap remained: many of the same people also needed a lawyer, for a family breakdown, a migration matter, a brush with police, or a dispute with a landlord, and had no realistic way to pay for one.
Salvos Legal exists to close that gap, using the discipline and rigour of a commercial law practice to make free legal help sustainable rather than occasional.
How it fits together
Same owner, same standards, two very different clients.
Fee for service
Acts for companies, government agencies and not-for-profit organisations on commercial terms, held to the same regulatory and professional standards as any other law firm in the market.
Free, charitable legal aid
A distinct, charitable legal practice that never charges a client. Its lawyers work alongside volunteer solicitors and migration agents, reached through phone advice lines and suburban advice bureaus.
One organisation. One Salvation Army mission. Two very different practices, working in step.
A model the industry has taken notice of
Over the years, the firm has been recognised repeatedly by the Australian legal industry for both its commercial work and its social-enterprise model, and holds recognised certification as a social enterprise — an independent signal that the mission behind the practice is more than a tagline.
"We wanted a law firm that could stand on its own commercially, and a legal aid service that never had to say no because the money ran out."
This page describes the firm's structure and mission in general terms. It does not name current individuals, office addresses or specific award details.