Pro Bono
Our Commitment to Pro Bono Legal Service
As lawyers, we have a special obligation to promote the public interest, assist the disadvantaged, and strengthen our community. While the attorneys in our firm contribute individually to a wide variety of civic, charitable, and cultural organizations, we believe it is critical that, as a firm, we demonstrate a clear commitment to providing pro bono (free) legal services to those in need.
From the firm’s inception, we have been active in public service, ranging from volunteering intellectual property services to low-income inventors or artists, to pro bono litigation both within and beyond the intellectual property sphere, to service in government and on the boards of charitable organizations.
Name partner David Wolf took one of his earliest cases all the way to the Supreme Court on a pro bono basis – the seminal Aro case which is still the leading precedent for the important patent law doctrine of “permissible repair.”
Over the course of the firm’s history, we have assisted a variety of non-profits and charitable organizations. Examples include:
- Registering the trademark for “Goodwill Industries”;
- Registering the trademark for a group dedicated to supplying books to Africa;
- Representing an organization focused on teaching entrepreneurship to disadvantaged youth.
In recent years, the firm’s pro bono program has scored victories on behalf of a range of clients in a variety of cases. For example, we recently won a significant First Amendment case on behalf of a speaker who had been silenced by the Massachusetts Department of Education for his criticism of standardized testing. Listen to Associate, Mike Rader, describe the case. Get the Flash Player to see this player.
We also won a Housing Court action on behalf of a tenant who was facing eviction. Our counterclaims against the landlord not only protected our client from eviction, but secured her an award of many times the amount originally sought from her landlord.
The Firm’s Pro Bono Program
The firm’s Public Services Committee considers all pro bono opportunities, encourages everyone in the firm to participate, and coordinates appropriate training. Significant features of our pro bono program include:
Associates and tech specs are given full credit toward performance bonuses for up to 50 hours of pro bono service – just as though that time had been devoted to billable work. A credit above 50 hours may be received with advance approval.
Projects are staffed voluntarily based on a number of factors, but taking into consideration an individual’s personal commitment to a particular pro bono project as well as the value of the experience to that individual.
Technology specialists, patent agents, and summer associates may participate in pro bono projects, subject to ethical rules and state law restrictions.
After every pro bono matter, the responsible individual completes a feedback form to provide a database of information for future projects.
As an intellectual property law firm, we have the expertise to provide pro bono advice and assistance to inventors, artists, musicians, and other intellectual property owners of limited means. Our pro bono activities, however, are not restricted to this field. Litigation or legal counseling in other areas also provides our professionals with stimulating and rewarding opportunities to help those in need.
