Fish & Richardson Receives Artistic License Award

SAN DIEGO–Fish & Richardson is pleased to announce that the firm has received the Artistic License Award from the California Lawyers for the Arts (CLA). The award recognizes Fish's pro bono work protecting intellectual property on behalf of low-income artists, inventors and entrepreneurs in California.

"We are honored to receive the Artistic License Award in recognition of our dedication to the arts and to pro bono service," said Katie Niejadlik, pro bono manager of Fish. "The goal of any law firm pro bono program is to identify meaningful opportunities that use the unique skills of your attorneys on behalf of clients who otherwise would not have access to our justice system."

Since the creation of the California Inventors Assistance Program in early 2013, Fish attorneys have devoted over 1800 hours, worth more than $750,000, on 49 pro bono matters for 37 clients.

CLA empowers and strengthens the creative community by providing legal education, representation and dispute resolution to artist groups throughout California. The Artistic License Award was established in 2008 by CLA's board of directors to recognize people and organizations whose acts of generosity and examples of innovation serve the community in extraordinary ways.

CLA presented Fish with the Artistic License Award at a reception in Los Angeles, where the firm also received recognition from the City of Los Angeles, the California State Senate and the California State Assembly. Other honorees of the award included the Actor's Gang and California Assembly Speaker Emeritus John A. Pérez.

Last year, Fish attorneys donated over 10,000 pro bono hours representing clients in need of legal representation. To encourage pro bono participation, the firm provides full hours credit for approved pro bono matters.