JUSTICE Virginia Bell, a social justice advocate and the fourth female to be appointed to the High Court, will be the special guest at the annual fund-raising dinner for the Toongabbie Legal Centre next month.

Justice Bell took up her place on the High Court bench in February after a career as a criminal defender and a period as a judge in the NSW Supreme Court of Appeal.

When her elevation as one of three female judges to the High Court was announced last December, Attorney-General Robert McClelland said Justice Bell would boost the criminal law credentials of the court, which had been lacking since the retirement of Justice Ian Callinan.

Susai Benjamin was part of the group of lawyers who established the Toongabbie Legal Centre in October, 2007.

It is a non-profit community based initiative with a mission to provide legal assistance to culturally, socially and economically disadvantaged people in Toongabbie and surrounding areas.

The centre performs vital legal work for groups including non-English-speaking recently arrived migrants, especially migrant women and children, refugees and those on humanitarian visas, youth, the unemployed, those affected by matters related to employment or compensation and those with financial constraints.

``The centre is there for those who are afraid to go to lawyers or cannot afford to pay commercial rates, and for those who simply don't know where to turn when they bump into a legal problem,'' Mr Benjamin said.

The dinner is at the Parra Villa Function Centre, 42 Campbell Street, Parramatta (behind Westfield Shopping Centre) on Friday, November 13 at 6pm. Cost is $50 and the deadline for bookings is November 6. Details: 0417482682 or 0418691525.