Laura Lombardo

Special Counsel
Expertise
    Biography

    Laura is a special counsel in Gilbert + Tobin’s Pro Bono group.

    Laura is an experienced litigator specialising in public interest litigation and law reform in areas including discrimination and human rights, Indigenous justice and refugee rights. Laura has litigated cases in the District, Supreme and Federal Courts, in the NSW Court of Appeal and High Court of Australia. She has represented clients in coronial inquiries and assisted them to tell their stories in Royal Commissions including the Financial Services Royal Commission and Northern Territory Royal Commission into the Protection and Detention of Children.

    Laura has a particular interest in working with not-for-profit organisations and the community legal sector on projects that build organisational capacity and address unmet need. Laura frequently delivers legal training to groups including advocates and disability rights organisations. She also regularly speaks at law school student events to support emerging social justice and pro bono lawyers.

    Prior to joining the firm, Laura was the Principal Solicitor of the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC), a community legal centre specialising in test cases and policy advocacy to achieve social justice and protect human rights. Laura has also previously worked as a lawyer at the Central Australian Aboriginal Legal Service (CAALAS) in Alice Springs, NT, as a secondee lawyer at the North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA) in Katherine, NT and as a commercial litigator and pro bono manager at a major law firm. Laura has been on the Board of the Welfare Rights Centre (NSW) since 2016.

    Laura has a Bachelor of Media and Bachelor of Laws with Honours.