Parke Lawyers is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Parke Corporation. The entire group supports communities by providing financial and volunteer support. Corporate social responsibility is central to all aspects of our operations.
Community Involvement
Management and staff at Parke Lawyers are active members of the communities in which we work and live. Parke Lawyers is involved and sponsors the following community activities:
Camberwell Art Show – Parke Lawyers has on a number of occasions, been gold sponsor for this prestigious community event. Now in its 54th year, this is the largest art show in Australia outside the Archibald prize.
Carols by Candlelight – For many years, Parke Lawyers has been a key annual sponsor of the local Carols by Candlelight community events in the City of Boroondara.
Contribution to better communities – Managing Director Jim Parke is a councillor at the City of Boroondara and immediate past Mayor. He also served for three years as a member of the Adult Parole Board of Victoria.
Women @ The Alfred Foundation – Parke Lawyers donates legal services to The Chairman’s Lunch annual fundraising event. The Foundation raises in excess of $500,000 annually for men’s health research, equipment and programs.
Crime Stoppers Victoria – Parke Lawyers strongly supports the great work done by Crime Stoppers Victoria by providing pro bono legal services.
Staff volunteering – Parke Lawyers promotes staff volunteering efforts and supports our staff endeavours offering flexible working hours to accommodate volunteering commitments. Lawyers volunteer at Westjustice; HIV AIDS clinic.
Workplace
Parke Lawyers understands that attracting and retaining the best people available is crucial to our ongoing success and profitability. We have developed a number of initiatives which provide a strong commitment to valuing our staff and driving the best results for our clients. These include:
- We support staff initiatives that drive innovation, work and cost efficiencies
- We promote learning options to close the generational gap promoting that staff of all ages have a skill and knowledge that can be transferred to the generation below or above them.
- Staff are encouraged to become stakeholders in the firm’s success. Our staff have received numerous awards including for excellence in Aviation Law and Managing Director Jim Parke was named Business Law Specialist of the Year 2014.
Education and Learning
Parke Lawyers promotes continuing education both through in-house programs and further learning courses.
- The Learn and Soar program developed by Parke lawyers provides junior lawyers access to a senior practitioner seven days a week
- Flexible learning options provide staff the ability to incorporate further education studies within their work environment and work hours.
Parke Lawyers contributes to a number of Industry educational endeavours. These include:
Swinburne University – Parke Lawyers is a founding and industry partner of the university’s law program. We provide content, guest lecture and host students on work placement as well as provide continuing mentoring.
Student work placements – Parke Lawyers is an employer of choice providing work experience and placements to university students. We have a formal partnership with the Leo Cussen Centre for Law.
Pro Bono
Parke Lawyers is committed to providing pro bono work. Parke Lawyers provides pro bono legal services to the Cancer Council and Salvation Army community wills program.
We are a signatory to the National Pro Bono Aspirational Target and currently have surpassed the number of voluntary hours the organisation requests to be undertaken in a calendar year.
Parke Lawyers proudly gives our staff the resources, support and encouragement to undertake community legal work at Westjustice.