Pro Bono Representation

At Fish & Richardson, we believe that providing pro bono legal services is an important professional obligation of our attorneys, and we strongly encourage all of our legal professionals to take on pro bono matters as an integral part of their professional lives.

Our support for pro bono goes beyond mere encouragement. We treat approved pro bono matters the same way as billable ones for all purposes. This means that we give all attorneys and paralegals who work on pro bono matters full hours credit toward their annual hours minimums and bonus levels; that each pro bono matter is supervised by a Principal or Senior Counsel; and that attorney performance on pro bono matters is considered during each attorney's annual review.

We also are committed to making available high quality and interesting pro bono opportunities to attorneys in all of our offices. To achieve this goal, we have designated a Principal from each of our U.S. offices as a Pro Bono Coordinator, who is tasked with building relationships with local pro bono organizations and with seeking out and internally publicizing individual pro bono matters.

Fish & Richardson is a member firm of the Pro Bono Institute (PBI), and in selecting matters for pro bono representation, we are guided by the PBI's definition of pro bono legal work, which emphasizes the provision of legal services to persons and non-profit organizations with limited means, and the protection of important civil and public rights.

The following is a sampling of our firm's pro bono activities:

Political Asylum

Two of our attorneys received PAIR's 2004 Pro Bono Attorney of the Year award for a case in which they successfully obtained asylum on behalf of a woman from Sierra Leone who was made a sexual slave of a rebel commander. Another one of our attorneys received the 2006 Award for Excellence in Pro Bono Advocacy award from the Sanctuary for Families and the Center for Battered Women's Legal Services for his work obtaining asylum for battered women under the federal Violence Against Women Act.

First Amendment/Free Speech/Online Freedom

In a case referred by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, one of our attorneys successfully represented an anonymous poster to an on-line message board and prevented the disclosure of his identity in response to a subpoena to an ISP.

Our attorneys submitted an amicus curiae brief to the Supreme Court of the United States on behalf of the Internet Archive, Prelinger Archives and Project Gutenberg Literary Foundation in support of Eric Eldred's challenge to the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 ("CTEA").

Attorneys in our San Diego office handle cases referred by the American Civil Liberties Union of San Diego and Imperial Counties. For example, they have represented an interpreter in challenging, on first amendment grounds, his disqualification from interpreting at immigration hearings after he spoke out publicly in favor of immigrant rights.

Economic Justice/Equal Opportunity

Working with North Shore Neighborhood Legal Services, our attorneys operate a once-a-month legal clinic at the Lynn, Massachusetts Housing Court. We provide free representation to indigent tenants and landlords in connection with eviction proceedings.

Fish & Richardson has formed a partnership with the Medical-Legal Partnership for Children (MLPC), an innovative legal services organization that is focused on addressing legal issues that impact the health of children in indigent families. Through referrals from MLPC, our attorneys represent low income families with a variety of legal needs, in areas such as Education Law, Public Benefits, Immigration, and Housing Law.

In cooperation with the Law Society of Silicon Valley, our attorneys represent low-income home owners to prosecute mortgage fraud claims under the Truth in Lending Act.

Fish & Richardson is a member of New York Lawyers for the Public Interest, a public interest law firm that also serves as a pro bono clearinghouse for New York City law firms, providing its members with a variety of litigation, transactional, and counseling pro bono opportunities. The firm's New York office also has relationships with other major New York City pro bono service organizations including the Legal Aid Society and Gay Men's Health Crisis.

Arts and Artists

Criminal Law

Attorneys in our Delaware office have initiated a program with the office of the Delaware Attorney General in which participating attorneys are appointed Special Deputy Attorneys General and have the opportunity to try criminal cases in the Delaware Court of Common Pleas and the Delaware Superior Court.

Fish & Richardson attorneys are on the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals Pro Bono Panel, and are assigned to handle habeas corpus appeals on a pro bono basis.

Domestic Violence

Attorneys in our Delaware office, in coordination with Delaware's Office of Child Advocacy, represent children in various proceedings before the Delaware Family Court, typically after the child is placed under the protection of the Division of Family Services and in the foster care system.

Attorneys in our Twin Cities office participate in Chrysalis Pro Bono Safety Project, which provides pro bono legal representation to low-income battered women seeking Orders for Protection (OFP) and who have a compelling need for legal assistance.

Intellectual Property

Our attorneys have provided free trademark counseling and services to numerous small non-profit organizations with limited budgets.

Attorneys in our Delaware office, working with Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, provide legal services to artists, arts and cultural organizations in Southeastern Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Southern New Jersey.

Veterans

Fish & Richardson attorneys participate in the Federal Circuit Bar Association's Veterans Pro Bono Program through which we handle appeals of denials of veterans benefits in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.