AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 9, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Fish &
Richardson announced today that it has donated nearly $200,000 in post-judgment attorneys' fees from
the firm's recent pro bono victory in a lawsuit safeguarding the
voting rights of individuals with limited English proficiency. In
the case, Fish attorneys argued successfully that a provision of
the Texas Election Code preventing voters from using the
interpreter of their choice during the voting process violated
Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act. The U.S. District Court for
the Western District of Texas and
the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals agreed and the District Court
granted Fish's motion for attorneys' fees, ordering the State to
pay out $191,374.
Fish has donated the full fee award to multiple local
organizations. First, in memory of plaintiff Mallika Das, who died before the lawsuit
concluded, the University of Texas Law
School has received $100,000 to endow
the Fish & Richardson Mallika Das Scholarship in Voting Rights.
The scholarship will assist law students with financial need who
have a demonstrated interest in voting rights. The Asian American
Legal Defense and Education Fund (AALDEF), which protects and
promotes the rights of Asian Americans and litigated the case with
Fish, received $40,000 (a portion
represents the fees attributed to an AALDEF attorney). The Greater
Houston Chapter of the Organization of Chinese Americans, the
organizational plaintiff in the case, received $25,000 to advance its mission to advocate for
the civil rights of Asian Pacific Americans. Lastly, the Volunteer
Legal Services of Central Texas, a
longtime Fish pro bono partner working to broaden access to
justice, received $26,374.
"It was an honor to be involved in this important case and to
play a role in protecting the rights of all Texas voters with limited English proficiency.
By giving back the attorneys' fees, we can continue to support the
critical work being done by the Texas legal community," said Fish principal
David Hoffman, who led the case with
Kenneth Darby and David Morris, also from Fish's Austin office.
The case dates back to 2014 when plaintiff Das, a registered
voter from Williamson County,
Texas, with limited English proficiency, brought her son to
provide language assistance so that she could vote in the 2014
midterm elections. Poll workers in the Central Texas city of Round Rock intervened, telling her that the
Texas Election Code prevented such assistance from those who were
not registered to vote in the same county. Das was forced to vote
alone as a result. During the course of the lawsuit, Das passed
away after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
"We are thrilled to fund the scholarship in Mallika's name and
hope that it will be a worthy memorial to everything she did to
further voting rights for the people of Texas," added Morris. "She was an amazing
woman and she will not be forgotten."
Fish is committed to making pro bono work an integral part of
the firm's professional culture, encouraging all of its legal
professionals to take on pro bono matters as a regular part of
their professional lives.
Fish & Richardson, a premier global intellectual property
law firm, is sought-after and trusted by the world's most
innovative brands and influential technology leaders. Fish offers
patent prosecution; counseling and litigation; and trademark and
copyright prosecution, counseling and litigation. Our deep bench of
attorneys with first-chair trial experience in every technology
makes us the go-to firm for the most technically complex cases. We
have an established reputation as a top-tier firm for patent
portfolio planning, strategy and prosecution, as well as post-grant
proceedings at the PTAB. Fish was established in 1878, and now has
more than 400 attorneys and technology specialists in the U.S.,
Europe and China. Our success is rooted in our creative and
inclusive culture, which values the diversity of people,
experiences and perspectives. For more information, visit fr.com or
follow us at @FishRichardson.
Contact:
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Amy
Blumenthal
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or
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Patricia
Baressi
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Blumenthal &
Associates
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Fish & Richardson
P.C.
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(617)
879-1511
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(617)
368-2115
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amyb@blumenthalpr.com
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baressi@fr.com
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SOURCE Fish & Richardson