Violet Co Legal and Consulting: Creating Change Through Legal Practice Based on Dignity, Responsibility and Reciprocity

Published on 15 June 2023 by Karen Iles Violet Co Legal and Consulting was awarded the 2022 inaugural Pro Bono Service Award by the NSW Law Society. Their nomination was for the work the team does to support, and walk alongside, sexual assault victims/survivors in their fights to access justice.

Violet Co Legal and Consulting is now in its 5th year of operation. The Violet Co team as a whole spends approximately 50% of our time working fee-free, on a pro bono basis, on legal matters and social justice advocacy.

They are a signatory to the National Pro Bono Target, a certified Indigenous business (Supply Nation) and certified Social Enterprise (Social Traders). The firm wants to be an example of a privately owned practice that can deliver an extraordinary amount of legal services on a pro bono basis, while at the same time keeping themselves afloat and not relying on government or philanthropic funding. They don’t want to compete with the underfunded Community Legal Sector for funding. They want to show a different way.

Karen Iles is the Founder and Principal Solicitor of Violet Co Legal & Consulting; a certified Indigenous business and social enterprise. Prior to establishing Violet Co, Karen held roles specialising in Corporate Social Responsibility, in-house practice and management consulting for Coffey International Development, Colin Biggers & Paisley Lawyers, Tata Consultancy Services and KPMG Australia. Before ‘going corporate’ Karen spent 10 years working on human rights issues for organisations such as Amnesty International and trade unions.

Karen is a Nationally Accredited Mediator and Non-Executive Director (Graduate and member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors). Her appointments include; Independent member Australian Catholic Safeguarding, NSW Law Society Committees and a number of not-for-profit sector Boards including the National Justice Project. Karen has completed the Grad Cert Applied Law (Dispute Resolution), Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice, Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Arts (Women’s Studies). In 2022 Karen was awarded the inaugural Law Society of NSW Pro Bono Service Award.