Academics have a long history of association and relationships with community legal centres and legal aid whose function is to assist ordinary people with real-life dilemmas.

This involves voluntary pro-bono (free) work.

Community service and social justice values are often extremely important to legal academics and through volunteer service they attempt to practice what they preach.

In many cases the academic may no longer be a practicing lawyer so the assistance they provide to community legal aid services can include research and taking on an advisory or mentoring role to less experienced legal practitioners rather than meeting with clients and representing them.