Nicole Lojszczyk's elevation on 1 July — alongside a charities and social sector appointment — suggests G+T is treating access to justice as a permanent investment, not a reputational line item
When Gilbert + Tobin announced its July partner round last week, six of the seven promotions tracked the firm's commercial priorities: corporate advisory, disputes, energy and infrastructure. The seventh was different.
Nicole Lojszczyk joins the partnership as a pro bono partner — making G+T, so far as can be determined, the only major Australian law firm with three full-time dedicated pro bono partners. The firm already had two: Michelle Hannon and Anne Cregan. Lojszczyk adds a third.
That is a resource decision, not a symbolic one. G+T's pro bono team worked over 28,000 hours in FY2024 — a caseload that requires dedicated senior lawyers to manage, supervise and run. The firm appointed Australia's first full-time in-house pro bono lawyer in 1996 and has been building the practice since. Three partners sits alongside a full-time special counsel and three dedicated pro bono lawyers.
Lojszczyk's practice covers legal issues affecting First Nations Australians, people with disabilities and refugees. Her case record includes acting for Equality Australia in Equality Australia Ltd v Commissioner of the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission [2024] FCAFC 115 — a Full Federal Court decision on whether an LGBTIQ+ advocacy organisation qualified as a public benevolent institution, with implications for how the ACNC approaches advocacy-focused charities. She has also appeared in protection visa and NDIS appeals in the Administrative Review Tribunal, and acted for families of people who died in custody.
It is litigation work, not advisory, and it justifies partnership on its own terms.
Lojszczyk's promotion sits alongside Elizabeth Wighton's elevation to partner in charities and social sector — advising not-for-profit organisations on governance, regulatory compliance and structure. Two of G+T's seven new partners work primarily for clients who are not paying commercial rates.
G+T has long described itself as committed to pro bono and championing causes including marriage equality and reconciliation with Australia's Indigenous peoples. Saying that and funding it are different things. A firm can articulate a pro bono culture without making pro bono partners. Three partners and 28,000 hours a year is a concrete expression of the same commitment.
In 2024, 70% of G+T's promotions to partnership and special counsel were women, a figure the firm publishes openly. The firm also says it has held the WGEA Employer of Choice for Gender Equality citation for 17 consecutive years. Lojszczyk and Wighton are both women, as are four of the other five partners promoted in this round.
Pro bono leadership
A “dedicated pro bono partner” is a partner whose full-time or designated role is pro bono practice. Excludes partners who do pro bono work alongside a commercial practice.
Sources: firm websites; Lawyers Weekly; Australian Pro Bono Centre; ICLG firm profile (G+T, 2025). Data current as at 1 July 2026.
First dedicated pro bono partner appointment — timeline
Pro bono practice at most commercial firms is structured around the Law Council's voluntary 35-hours-per-lawyer benchmark — enough to appear in rankings, not much more. Running a partnership-level practice is a different proposition. It requires the firm to carry partners who generate no commercial revenue, on the basis that the practice produces value in other ways: reputation, recruitment, institutional standing, staff retention.
G+T's position is that the investment is worth it. Whether other large Australian firms follow is an open question, but none currently runs a pro bono practice at this scale.
Danny Gilbert, co-founder and chairman, said of the round: "We are proud to welcome the following people to the partnership. Each of them brings the judgement, energy and commitment to excellence that clients expect from G+T." The statement applies the same framing to a pro bono partner as to a corporate advisory one. Given the investment behind it, that reads as a considered position rather than a formula.
Gilbert + Tobin's full July 2026 partner round also includes Matthew Charman (tax), Matthew Coe (corporate advisory), Andrew Earle (corporate advisory), Christopher Marchesi (energy, resources and infrastructure) and Lauren Shave (disputes and investigations).
