Prue Hawkins (1998)

Prue Hawkins is a solicitor with a double degree who has great experience in the community legal sector including Domestic Violence, Family Law and Disability Discrimination. 

Prue lost her job at Legal Aid in 2014 due to funding cuts and spent the next 24 months looking for work to no avail.  To make matters worse, Prue was rejected from receiving the Disability Support Pension (which she had previously received since the age of 16 as a person living with Brittle Bones disease) because she “wasn’t disabled enough”.  In the face of constant challenge, Prue resolved to start her own legal firm – Empire Barristers and Solicitors – which opened in November 2015 and continues to go from strength to strength. Prue holds degrees in Law and Fine Arts, and is regularly engaged as a specialist public speaker in disability awareness training.