Author: Virginia Lyon

Over the past several years, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Patent Pro Bono Program, working with partners across the U.S., has offered unique pro bono opportunities that engage lawyers to help low-income inventors apply for and secure patents. The first client-side patent pro bono program to assist low-income inventors in prosecuting patents was initially piloted in Minnesota with attorneys from Smiths Medical and Patterson Thuente Pedersen, among others. Since then, the Patent Pro Bono Program has become a nationwide effort, available in 47 states. For low-income inventors, the impact of pro bono assistance is significant. A patent can be extremely

In May, Corporate Pro Bono was featured on Legal Executive Institute, a Thomson Reuters website that offers insight into the profession of law and the legal marketplace through blog commentary and legal news analysis. In the piece Benchmarking In-House Pro Bono: CPBO Challenge Hits 10-Year Milestone, Eve Runyon, President and CEO of PBI, recounts the progress of the CPBO Challenge® initiative, “During the past 10 years the initiative has become the industry standard, with nearly 150 signatories from organizations that provide pro bono service in more than 44 countries. CPBO Challenge® signatories range in terms of size, industry and location, but they all

Corporate Counsel recently released its list of the Best Legal Departments of 2016, and it came as no surprise to The PBEye that the legal departments at Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company (HPE)** and Viacom Inc.** were two of the four featured for their members’ abilities to multitask. HPE’s legal department earned its place on Corporate Counsel’s list for its handling of Hewlett-Packard Co.’s split – the largest corporate split in history – into HPE and Hewlett Packard Inc. “while still succeeding in other areas such as litigation, talent development and pro bono.” Success with regard to HPE’s pro bono program was

The National Law Journal recently released its annual ranking of America’s 50 Outstanding General Counsel, which recognizes chief legal officers who lead not only their legal teams but in their communities. Highlighting the growing importance of in-house pro bono, the NLJ considers each CLO’s dedication to providing pro bono work to the underrepresented when selecting the 50 outstanding general counsel. The PBEye is excited to note that 15 of the 50 attorneys listed as America’s outstanding general counsel lead departments that are signatories to the Corporate Pro Bono Challenge® initiative: Ricardo Anzaldua (MetLife Inc.**) Ona Alston Dosunmu (The Brookings Institution**) Cameron Findlay (Archer-Daniels-Midland

On April 20, the Chief Justice of the Virginia Supreme Court convened the 2016 Pro Bono Summit, sponsored by The Virginia Bar Association (VBA) and organized by a committee of the VBA’s recently appointed Pro Bono Council.  A biennial event, the first Virginia Pro Bono Summit was called in 2000 by then-Virginia Supreme Court Chief Justice Leroy Rountree Hassell, Sr., to expand the availability of free legal services for those unable to afford an attorney. The 2016 Summit began with remarks by current Chief Justice Donald W. Lemons, a welcome by VBA President James Patrick Guy II, an introduction by