| Description |
xii, 258 pages ; 20 cm |
| Contents |
1. Law and the New Left -- 2. Community Politics -- 3. The Rise of Legal Aid -- 4. A Medium of Change -- 5. Keeping Watch -- 6. Into the Nineties -- 7. Legal Culture in Blue Jeans? |
| Summary |
In Poverty Law and Social Change, John Chesterman traces the evolution of the Fitzroy Legal Service from a thorn in the side of the legal profession to a valued contributor to legal debate and a powerful advocate of pragmatic reform. In this process, he provides an entertaining and perceptive account of the forces that have prompted legal reform in Australia from the early 1970s, particularly in the development of legal aid |
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'Law for the Poor' and 'Lawyers for the People' declared the headlines that announced the opening of the Fitzroy Legal Service in December 1972. Based in a dingy town-hall basement in one of the poorest suburbs of Melbourne, this new legal service set out to do the unthinkable: to provide free legal advice to all comers. The challenge to the legal profession did not stop there. Among the small army of volunteers who mustered at Fitzroy were a number of radical young lawyers who openly expressed their contempt for the stuffiness and elitism of their profession. Almost a quarter of a century later, under an equally radical Liberal government, the Fitzroy Legal Service has found itself cast in the unlikely role of a defender of the status quo against reforms that threaten judicial independence and restrict the availability of legal aid |
| Notes |
Includes index |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 234-249) and index |
| Subject |
Fitzroy Legal Service -- History.
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Legal aid -- Australia -- Fitzroy (Vic.) -- History.
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Legal aid -- Australia -- Victoria -- Fitzroy (Vic.) -- History.
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Legal aid -- Australia -- Victoria -- Fitzroy -- History
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Legal assistance to the poor -- Australia -- Victoria -- Fitzroy
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| LC no. |
96230377 |
| ISBN |
0522847390 (paperback) |
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