The Global Impact of Pro BonoIntellectual Property Work

• Date: 01 June 2023
• Author: Alexander Zajac

June 27, 2023FEATURE

The Global Impact of Pro Bono

Intellectual Property Work

Alexander Zajac

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©2023. Published in Landslide, Vol. 15, No. 4, June/July 2023, by the American

Bar Association. Reproduced with permission. All rights reserved. This

information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any

form or by any means or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system

without the express written consent of the American Bar Association or the

copyright holder.

There are many blog and

regarding the global implications of intellectual property (IP). However, there

is a dearth of about the global impact lawyers can have when

providing pro bono IP advice and services. This article posits that there is a

reluctance to perform IP services pro bono given liability concerns and

marketing goals, combined with a reluctance to accept pro bono cases that

have cross-border potential. Nonetheless, there are worthy clients with cross-

border legal needs, and IP law is a particularly global area of law in modern

practice. Two case studies demonstrate that providing pro bono IP advice and

services can, and does, have positive global eects.

Impediments to Global Pro Bono Services in IP

Lawyers are notoriously risk averse. Much ink has been spilled assuaging

recurrent fears of malpractice liability from pro bono activities. For example,

the North Carolina Pro Bono Resource Center assures its volunteers that

“[s]ome malpractice insurance providers automatically cover your pro bono

work” and that “[a] rider for pro bono work may not be as expensive as you

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