Pro Bono Report (Winter 2013)

Research studies indicate that only a fraction of the civil legal problems experienced by low-income Americans are addressed with the help of a private attorney or a legal aid lawyer. DWT partner Harry Korrell co-chaired a national task force this past year to try to address this worrisome problem.

Korrell is a board member of Legal Services Corporation, the organization created by Congress to disburse federal grants to legal aid groups. LSC-funded programs turn away half of those seeking help, and limited resources is one of the major reasons why.

Three partners from Davis Wright participated last year in the creation of a new resource guide intended to help advance the campaign to establish a right to counsel for indigent individuals involved in civil cases.

Fifty years have passed since the U.S. Supreme Court (in Gideon v. Wainwright) determined that criminal defendants facing potential imprisonment who are unable to afford their own lawyer have a constitutional right to be provided counsel. But low-income individuals with civil legal needs are not guaranteed the same right.

During our long military action in Iraq, there were many local citizens who helped out Coalition forces. Some of these individuals and their families face significant threats of harm if they remain in the country.

Associate Ryan Gist has first-hand understanding of the situation, having served nine years in the Army, including time as a Ranger Forward Observer in Afghanistan and as a Company Commander in Iraq.

A student at the University of Washington Law School got an opportunity to practice patent law, and a budding entrepreneur got a chance to have his invention potentially protected and commercialized, thanks to DWT associate Ben Byer and a new program at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

The Patent Pilot Program allows law students to represent clients before the USPTO under the strict guidance of a faculty supervisor. The UW is one of a handful of institutions around the country participating.

Thanks to a directive issued by President Obama last summer, thousands of young, undocumented immigrants who may have been living in the shadows can now come out. And DWT partner Chris Helm has been working to assist them.

The new policy, called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, allows children and young adults who arrived in this country before they were 16 (and under the age of 31 as of June 15, 2012) to apply for work authorization, and to have any deportation action deferred.