Don Wackrow’s inclusion is a rare occurrence as the majority of members are Citizens Advice Bureau interviewers
Don Wackrow, the director of Auckland firm Wackrow Williams & Davies Limited, has been honoured with a life membership at Citizens Advice Bureau Auckland City Incorporated (CABAC).
Wackrow has served with the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) for 44 years. He began volunteering as a legal advisor for the organisation in the 1970s.
“He has provided an outstanding service, being generous with both his professional skills and time to support CAB clients who have nowhere else to go,” CABAC said in a media release.
Wackrow started out as a litigator early in his career, but has shifted to non-litigation practice in the last 15 years. He has advised families and SMEs, and has experience handling matters related to commercial property.
For a number of years, he has been supervising the legal clinic at CAB’s central Auckland branch, which provides “a valuable free legal advice service to the community,” CABAC said. The organisation’s board recognised his considerable contributions to the organisation at the CABAC annual general meeting held last month.
Wackrow joins fellow volunteers Diane Hunt, Patricia Ellis and Mary Bertrand as CABAC life members. The organisation said that Wackrow’s inclusion in the membership ranks was “unusual,” as CABAC members are mainly CAB interviewers.
Nonetheless, CABAC considers its legal clinic to be a vital addition to its core service, general manager Kate Anderson told NZ Lawyer.
“CAB aims to assist clients to understand their rights and take action as much as possible themselves,” she said. “The legal clinic is a valuable addition to our service, where lawyers do not represent the clients but where they do require specialist legal advice, the lawyers help them understand the next steps.”
Anderson said that practising lawyers from various law firms can be found volunteering weekly or bi-weekly in the many CAB legal clinics established across Auckland.
“We have a strong partnership with Auckland Community Law, which holds two legal clinics in our branches, and we refer eligible clients to them,” she said.
