Join fellow attorneys for a virtual, fun, simple, and no-continuing-obligations pro bono opportunity on Thursday, February 11, 2021, with the Georgia Lawyers for the Arts’ legal clinic for low-income artists and inventors. You can give from 30 minutes to four hours, at your choice, and you will be able to review materials in advance of the meeting.

This clinic is limited to copyright, trademark, patent, and general contract issues. Generally, the clinic would be held at GLA’s King Plow Arts Center office. However, unless circumstances with COVID-19 change, this clinic will be held virtually from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. You can volunteer for one 30-minute counseling session or stay for the entire day. GLA clients are scheduled by the GLA office.

GLA will provide a detailed description of each client’s legal issue in the days preceding the clinic. (Note you will not have to draft any contracts or trademark or copyright registrations.) This will be a quick, easy and gratifying way to satisfy some pro bono hours! You are encouraged to bring along your mentor or mentee for a collaborative experience. Please note, though, that you are not committed to any follow-up after the clinic, nor are you committed to represent the client going forward.

In order to assist in the scheduling, we ask that you let us know ASAP if you want to participate in this fabulous opportunity by following the instructions in the paragraphs below.

(Note that if you are an in-house attorney, GLA’s malpractice insurance covers you for purposes of participation in this legal clinic.)

For the Arts Clinic – Trademark, Copyright and Contract Matters

Please email Jayma Leath at jayma.leath@glarts.org (subject: February Arts Clinic) to volunteer and let us know the amount of time you can give (and specific time-slots, if necessary). The Arts Clinic will be hosted on Feb. 11 from 9 a.m. until 12:45 p.m. Once we have volunteers and GLA coordinates artist-attendees, GLA will send out the case materials so you can choose the case you would like to volunteer for. GLA will then assign cases to each individual or group of lawyers and will also provide you with the Zoom link for the meeting.

For the Patents Clinic

This clinic is limited to patent issues and will be held virtually from 1 p.m – 5 p.m. You can volunteer for a single one-hour session with an inventor or stay for the whole afternoon. Prior to the clinic, Georgia PATENTS staff will provide all volunteer attorneys with information to conduct a conflict search, as well as an easy to follow checklist/guide to use to during the client meeting. Session discussion will be limited to answering any general patent questions; exploring any patentability-related issues identified; and/or giving direction on the adequacy of the prior art search conducted by the inventor.  Please email Kelly Bray at kellybray@glarts.org (subject: February Georgia PATENTS clinic) to volunteer and let us know the amount of time you are able to volunteer (and specific time-slots, if necessary). In order to assist in the scheduling, we ask that you let us know ASAP if you want to participate in this fabulous opportunity. Lastly, for those of you perhaps unfamiliar with the program, Georgia PATENTS matches under-resourced inventors in Georgia with volunteer pro bono patent practitioners to assist in the filing of a patent application. Further information may be found at https://gapatents.org.