One Marina Park Drive Boston, MA 02210 Phone: (617) 542-5070 www.fr.com locations Atlanta, GA Austin, TX Boston, MA Dallas, TX Houston, TX Minneapolis, MN New York, NY Redwood City, CA San Diego, CA Washington, DC Wilmington, DE Munich MAJOR DEPARTMENTS & PRACTICES THE STATS. of Attorneys: 380. of Offices: 12 President, Chief Executive Officer: Peter J. Devlin Hiring Partner(s): Roger A. Denning EMPLOYMENT CONTACT Kelly Mixon Morgan National Director of Attorney Hiring Phone: (214) 747-5070 Email: recruiting@fr.com Intellectual Property Litigation Regulatory Technology Trademark & Copyright 199
Who s Who Does the firm have one or more pro bono coordinators and/or partners? If so, how many? More than 3 If you have more than three pro bono coordinators and/or partners, please provide a general description of how much of their time is spent on pro bono work. We have a firm-wide Pro Bono Chair who spends less than half of his time in this role. A principal in each office also serves as a pro bono coordinator, tasked with seeking out and publicizing pro bono opportunities. Less than half of his/her time is spent in this role. In addition to the attorney coordinators in each office, we also have a pro bono manager/paralegal who devotes approximately 40 percent of her time to pro bono administration. Please provide the primary pro bono contact(s) s information below. Lawrence K. Kolodney Principal, Chair of Pro Bono Committee Phone: (617) 521-7003 Email: kolodney@fr.com Katie Niejadlik Pro Bono Manager, Paralegal Phone: (212) 641-2211 Email: niejadlik@fr.com Does the firm have a pro bono committee? How often does the committee meet? The committee communicates by email. Please describe the composition of the committee. The committee consists of one principal from each domestic office who is tasked with building relationships with local pro bono organizations and with seeking out and publicizing individual pro bono matters. The committee also includes a firm-wide Pro Bono Manager. THE SCOOP Does your firm have a written pro bono policy? Can associates bring pro bono matters of interest to the firm? How does the firm decide whether to take on a pro bono matter? Proposed pro bono matters will generally be approved if the matter falls within the Pro Bono Institute s Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge definition of pro bono work, there is attorney interest in handling the matter, there is adequate partner supervision, and the firm has capacity to handle the matter. A matter is submitted for review through the firm s conflicts system. Once any positional or business conflicts are cleared, the matter is reviewed by the firm s Pro Bono chair to determine whether it falls within the definition. Has the firm signed on to the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge? What are some of the areas of law in which your firm has performed pro bono legal work since 2010? Arts and historic preservation, Asylum, Civil rights, Death penalty defense, Disability benefits, Domestic violence, Education, Elder law, Employment, Environment, Fair housing/ tenants rights, Family law, First Amendment and constitutional issues, Habeas corpus, Immigration, Individual intellectual property, nprofit intellectual property, Prisoners rights, Public benefits, Veterans benefits/appeals, Voting rights Are there areas of law in which, as a matter of policy or practice, your firm does not perform pro bono work? List up to 10 of your firm s pro bono clients or partners since 2010, including legal service providers or clearinghouses. The Children s Law Center Greater Boston Legal Services TrustLaw Connect PAIR Project Volunteer Legal Services of Central Texas America Invents Act Pro Bono Project (LegalCORPS) Kids in Need of Defense ( KIND ) American Bar Association Death Penalty Representation Project Neighborhood Legal Services of rtheastern Massachusetts Catholic Legal Immigration Network List up to three representative examples of your firm s pro bono matters since 2010. Please limit your answer to a short paragraph per matter. We counsel low-income artists as well as nonprofit organizations regarding intellectual property issues. We represent unaccompanied immigrant children before the United States Immigration Court on their Special Immigrant Juvenile Status petitions. 200 2012 Vault.com Inc.
We represent several prisoners on death row on the appeal of their death sentences. List up to three pro bono matters that are highlights (e.g., a Supreme Court case). Please limit your answer to a short paragraph per matter. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upheld a major copyright win for F&R pro bono client The Holy Transfiguration Monastery ( HTM ), a Greek Orthodox monastery located in Brookline, MA. In February, Fish presented the oral argument to the First Circuit before a three-judge panel including Judge Juan Torruella, who wrote the court s 75-page opinion; Judge Michael Boudin; and retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter, who was sitting by designation. This litigation was commenced in 2007 by HTM against a former monk, Archbishop Gregory, now a monk in Colorado, after he posted to his website approximately 1,000 pages of text taken from seven of the monastery s copyrighted translations of ancient religious Greek texts. After losing twice on summary judgment in the District Court, the archbishop appealed to the First Circuit, asserting a wide array of affirmative defenses including challenging HTM s copyright ownership by either a transfer by operation of law or publication without notice, disputing direct copyright infringement and substantial similarity, arguing that his use was a fair use, as well as asserting copyright misuse and safe harbor protection under the DMCA. The First Circuit affirmed the District Court s opinions, concluding that the archbishop is indeed an infringer, and reaffirming, in a very comprehensive opinion, that translations are copyrightable works and that the art of translation is a creative process that involves artistic choices. Fish served as co-counsel with the AALDEF in a civil case brought in federal court on behalf of two Indonesian women who were illegally brought into the U.S., held in captivity, and enslaved by force for years. The civil action brought by Fish included claims under the federal racketeering statute and under a federal statute that permits a victim of slavery and trafficking to recover damages. In 2011, an agreement rewarded the women with a substantial settlement. An associate in the Twin Cities office helped an inventor obtain the first patent ever to be issued under the USPTO s America Invents Act Pro Bono Program. This pilot program was created in June 2011 to assist pro se inventors who have filed patent applications, by assigning them skilled patent attorneys to improve the quality of their applications, advise them regarding amendments, and bring their inventions to market. BY THE NUMBERS What is the total number of hours that lawyers at your U.S. office(s) spent performing pro bono legal services, as defined by the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge, in 2010 and 2011? Do not include summer associate or non-lawyer pro bono hours in your answers. Total number of pro bono hours in 2010: 15,082 Total number of pro bono hours in 2011: 10,735 What was the attorney headcount in your firm s U.S. offices? Number of attorneys as of December 31, 2010: 350 Number of attorneys as of December 31, 2011: 380 Using the number of attorneys listed above, what is the average number of pro bono hours per attorney in your firm s U.S. office(s) during the following years? Average number of hours per attorney in 2010: 43 Average number of hours per attorney in 2011: 28 What percentage of attorneys employed during 2010 and 2011 in your firm s U.S. office(s) did at least 20 hours of pro bono during that calendar year? Percentage of attorneys who did pro bono work in 2010: 21 30% Percentage of attorneys who did pro bono work in 2011: 21 30% SUPERVISION AND EVALUATIONS Is there partner supervision on all pro bono matters? Do partner supervisors or, if applicable, senior associates provide written evaluations of associates work on pro bono matters? Are those evaluations taken into account in determining salary or bonuses?, they are taken into account when determining bonuses Are those evaluations taken into account in determining advancement within the firm? Is there a pro bono requirement at your firm? Does the firm give billable hour credit for pro bono work? Does the firm have a maximum number of pro bono hours that can be applied toward the billable hour target? What is the maximum number of pro bono hours that can be applied toward the billable hour target? 200 hours is the presumptive limit. Extensions beyond 200 hours are authorized for appropriate matters on a case-by-case basis. Does the firm consider pro bono hours when determining bonuses? Visit www.vault.com for company rankings, ratings and reviews to learn what it s really like to work in an industry or company and how to position yourself to land that job. 201
PRO BONO POINTS What training opportunities are open to associates working on pro bono matters? The firm encourages and pays for training offered by legal services organizations and continuing legal education in areas of pro bono representation. Does the firm offer the use of support staff in handling pro bono matters? Please indicate how many total hours and average hours per person your summer associates spent performing pro bono in 2010 and 2011. Total hours summer associates spent on pro bono work 2010: 137 2011: 254 Average hours per summer associate spent on pro bono work 2010: 9 2011: 9 Percentage of summer associates in your firm s U.S. office(s) engaged in pro bono work 2010: 31% 2011: 37% Please provide any additional information about pro bono opportunities available to summer associates. Summer associates are encouraged to work on existing pro bono matters with the firm s attorneys, including attending the lawyer-for-a-day session in which the firm participates. Does the firm have established programs, such as externships, that enable its associates to work in a public interest setting? Please describe the established program(s) and their duration, if applicable. Fish has a lawyer-on-loan program, which provides an opportunity for Fish attorneys to serve as temporary full-time prosecutors, for periods of up to six months, in local district attorney offices. What other law-related public interest and community service programs (that are not pro bono as defined by the Law Firm Pro Bono Challenge) do you offer and manage? For example, list any law school collaborations and public interest scholarships, auctions at law schools, monetary support, or fellowships. The firm supports and sponsors science fairs in Massachusetts, San Diego, and the Twin Cities, including offering pro bono patent prosecution for the winners of the science fairs. For 202 the Massachusetts Science Fair, we award the top two most patentable inventions and write free patent applications for them. What non-law related volunteer opportunities does your firm offer? For example, list any work with high school students and non-legal volunteerism for organizations like Habitat for Humanity. Community and public service activities sponsored by the firm or its attorneys include our sponsorship and participation in science fairs and NASA Space Camp, along with firm and attorney donations to the United Way, Greater Boston Legal Services, the American Red Cross, and other community and legal service organizations. Since 1999, each summer Fish & Richardson sponsors three middle school students from each of the U.S. cities in which we have offices at NASA Space Camp in Huntsville, AL. The goal of our Space Camp Scholarship Program is to get children excited about the fields of math, science, and technology. Scholarship winners receive full tuition to Space Camp, roundtrip airfare, sleeping accommodations for themselves and their chaperones, meals, spending money, and a flight spacesuit to take home. For many of the students, the trip to Space Camp is their first experience flying in an airplane and seeing a different part of the United States. We have sent more than 120 children to Space Camp through this program. In April 2011, the firm pledged more than $100,000, matching employee contributions to charities helping those affected by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, with additional contributions on behalf of Japanese clients. Please list any special recognition or awards your firm has won since 2010 for its pro bono work. The American Bar Association Death Penalty Representation Project named Fish & Richardson a recipient of the 2012 Exceptional Service Award for our commitment and dedication to the representation of prisoners on death row. Since taking on our first death penalty pro bono matter in 2008, Fish attorneys have developed an in-house expertise in death penalty representation and are currently handling five active litigations with 31 attorneys, 10 paralegals, and many support staff from six of our offices. Tom Brown, a principal in the Boston office of Fish & Richardson, was chosen as the 2012 recipient of the rtheast Housing Court Pro Bono Attorney of the Year award for his outstanding and longtime commitment to the Housing Mediation Project. Tom was presented with his award at the Essex County Bar Association Annual Meeting earlier this year. John Dragseth and Lauren Degnan, principals in Fish & Richardson s Washington, DC, office, were honored at the Pro Bono Leadership Awards at the 2012 Bench and Bar Conference. In 2010, Fish & Richardson was honored by the ABA Immigration Justice Project as its Law Firm of the Year for Fish s Southern California office pro bono work on several asylum cases. 2012 Vault.com Inc.
The San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program (SDVLP) selected Fish & Richardson as the 2010 Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year. The SDVLP is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide free legal services in civil matters to indigent individuals, families, and groups. The San Diego office has been involved with SDVLP since 1998 and has contributed many hundreds of hours of attorney and paralegal time to clients who would otherwise be unable to afford counsel. The Massachusetts Bar Association awarded Fish & Richardson its 2010 Access to Justice Pro Bono Law Firm award for our long-term participation in the rtheast Housing Court s Lawyer for a Day program in Lynn, MA. The program provides attorneys to represent incomequalified tenants and landlords in mandatory mediations of all cases on the court s trial docket which can exceed dozens of cases per session in disputes relating to evictions, postforeclosure tenants and owners rights, lead law compliance, condemnation, and trespass. More than 40 different attorneys from the Boston office have participated since 2005, donating more than 900 hours of time to the program. Please add any additional information about your firm s pro bono program. At Fish & Richardson, we are committed to making pro bono work an integral part of our professional culture, and we strongly encourage all our legal professionals to take on pro bono matters as an integral part of their professional lives. We back up this commitment by providing our attorneys with full hours of credit for approved pro bono matters and by assigning a principallevel attorney in each of our U.S. offices the task of seeking out and publicizing local pro bono opportunities. Each year, our attorneys contribute a significant number of pro bono hours to serve the legal needs of individuals and nonprofit organizations, benefiting the communities where we live and work. Fish & Richardson is a member 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 nonprofit organizations with limited means and the protection of important civil and public rights. Visit www.vault.com for company rankings, ratings and reviews to learn what it s really like to work in an industry or company and how to position yourself to land that job. 203