A Calling, a Promise, and Rule 6.1: Three Remarkable Women and Corporate Commitment to Pro Bono and Service

• Author: Steven P. Caltrider - Tamra A. P. Ross
• Position: Steven P. Caltrider serves as vice president, deputy general patent counsel at Eli Lilly and Company. Tamra A. P. Ross serves as director of legal operations at Eli Lilly and Company.
• Pages: 56-59

Published in Landslide® magazine, Volume 10, Number 4 , a publication of the ABA Section of Intellectual Property Law (ABA-IPL), ©2018 by the American Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved.

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A Calling, a Promise, and Rule 6.1

Three Remarkable Women and Corporate Commitment to Pro Bono and Service

By Steven P. Caltrider and Tamra A. P. Ross

T he promise of Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) is to “unite caring with discovery to make life

better for people around the world.”1 This promise coupled with Rule 6.1 of the Model Rules

of Professional Conduct created the foundational justication for Lilly’s pro bono programs.

But it is the leadership and calling of many women in its intellectual property (IP) law group

to “be inclusive,” “be relevant,” and “be a catalyst” that has helped power the company’s tre-

mendous success in corporate social responsibility. Charri Vorndran-Jones, Assistant General

Patent Counsel; Tonya Combs, Senior Director and Assistant General Patent Counsel; and

Elizabeth Dingess-Hammond, Assistant General Patent Counsel are three Lilly champions

who lead the company in its pro bono work.

Image: iStockphoto