1.0 General CLE Credit (Approval Pending)

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• Seattle Intellectual Property Inn of Court
• Pro Bono Practice for IP Attorneys
•  
• February 21, 2013

• 1.0 General CLE Credit (Approval Pending)

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Schedule

• Pro Bono Practice in the Western District of
  Washington
• Judge James Donohue (W.D. Wash.)
• Pro Bono Primer
• Jonathan McFarland (Perkins Coie)
• Pro Bono Group Discussion Questions
• Duncan Macfarlane (Macfarlane Law)
• IP and Non-IP Pro Bono Case Examples
• Mark Walters (Frommer Lawrence Haug)
• Jonathan McFarland (Perkins Coie)

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Pro Bono Practice in the Western District of
Washington

• Judge James Donohue (W.D. Wash.)

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Pro Bono Primer

• Jonathan McFarland (Perkins Coie)

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Preliminary Questions

• Is it your professional responsibility as a
  lawyer to perform pro bono services?
• If so, how many hours per year are needed to meet
  that professional responsibility?
• If so, but you are too busy, can you ethically
  buy your way out of the responsibility?

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50 hours per year
ABA Model Rule 6.1
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ABA Model Rule of Professional Conduct 6.1(a)

• Every lawyer has a professional responsibility to
  provide legal services to those unable to pay.
  A lawyer should aspire to render at least (50)
  hours of pro bono publico legal services per
  year. In fulfilling this responsibility, the
  lawyer should
• (a) provide a substantial majority of the (50)
  hours of legal services without fee or
  expectation of fee to
• (1) persons of limited means or
• (2) charitable, religious, civic, community,
  governmental and educational organizations in
  matters which are designed primarily to address
  the needs of persons of limited means and

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Washington State Rule of Professional Conduct
6.1(a)

• At least 30 hours of pro bono (compared to 50
  hours for ABA)
• NOTE A lawyer rendering a minimum of 50 hours of
  pro bono publico service shall receive
  commendation for such service from the WSBA

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Washington State RPC 6 Comment 9

• 9 Because the provision of pro bono services is
  a professional responsibility, it is the
  individual ethical commitment of each lawyer.
  Nevertheless, there may be times when it is not
  feasible for a lawyer to engage in pro bono
  services. At such times a lawyer may discharge
  the pro bono responsibility by providing
  financial support to organizations providing free
  legal services to persons of limited means. Such
  financial support should be reasonably equivalent
  to the value of the hours of service that would
  have otherwise been provided. In addition, at
  times it may be more feasible to satisfy the pro
  bono responsibility collectively, as by a firm's
  aggregate pro bono activities.

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Pro Bono Group Discussion Questions

• Duncan Macfarlane (Macfarlane Law)

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Supporting Justice II A Report on the Pro Bono
Work of Americas Lawyers
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ABA General Survey Questions
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How Do Attorneys Surveyed Define Pro Bono?
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Is this pro bono ?
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What are some roadblocks to doing pro bono work?
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Pro Bono Case Examples
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IP Pro Bono

• Bowman v. Monsanto U.S. Supreme Court
• Mark Walters (Frommer Lawrence Haug)
• Patent Law School Clinic Certification Program
• Jonathan McFarland (Perkins Coie)
• Soft IP Examples
• Others?

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Non-IP Pro Bono for IP Litigators

• Federal Circuit Bar Association
• Mark Walters (Frommer Lawrence Haug)
• Immigration Law
• Jonathan McFarland (Perkins Coie)
• Others?

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QA