BOSTON- The Boston Patent Law Association (BPLA) recently announced Mintz Member Andrew (“Drew”) DeVoogd as the recipient of the 2022 Pro Bono Award. The award is given annually to a BPLA member who has been instrumental in providing significant or meaningful pro bono services. It is open to any category of pro bono work, including housing, employment, criminal, veterans, family law, immigration, and intellectual property (IP). Mr. DeVoogd was selected by an impressive panel of judges and honored at the BPLA annual meeting on December 7, 2022, for his work on a wide range of pro bono matters.

At Mintz, Mr. DeVoogd focuses primarily on patent and trade secret litigation. An experienced trial attorney, he frequently represents clients at the International Trade Commission and in federal district courts around the country. He is a member of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee and the recipient of the 2020 Richard Mintz Pro Bono Award, named after the son of one of the firm’s founders. He has also been recognized by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) Standing Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services' annual Honor Roll list for outstanding pro bono contributions and serves as a member of the board for Greater Boston Legal Services.

Mr. DeVoogd’s active pro bono practice focuses on protecting, supporting, and advancing immigrant, LGBTQ+ and women’s rights. He represents, among others, asylum-seekers, as well as clients of the Mintz Domestic Violence Program in obtaining and extending 209A abuse prevention orders on behalf of victims of domestic violence and sexual assault, including on appeal. He has also led pro bono amicus efforts at the Massachusetts SJC and the U.S. Supreme Court. For example, at the Supreme Court, he led an amicus briefing team in the consolidated cases captioned Bostock v. Clayton County with nearly 40 law and history professors on behalf of a transgender employee fired due to her gender identity. In its June 15, 2020 ruling, the Supreme Court held that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from discriminating against workers based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

Mr. DeVoogd is presently working with a team of Mintz attorneys along with the ACLU of Massachusetts in advancing claims against the government to redress its failure to adjudicate Humanitarian Parole applications for emergency entry into the U.S. filed by Afghan clients in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August of 2021. The team filed a federal complaint against the government seeking declaratory, injunctive and mandamus relief on behalf of certain plaintiffs from Afghanistan whose Humanitarian Parole applications have either languished with unreasonable delay and in violation of agency procedures or have been denied without proper procedure. These plaintiffs, many of whom assisted the U.S. military or U.S.-based global nonprofits in Afghanistan throughout the 20-year occupation, face imminent danger, including from the Taliban.

The BPLA provides educational programs and a forum for the interchange of ideas and information concerning IP including patent, trademark, trade secret, and copyright laws. Through a volunteer Board of Governors and its various committees, the BPLA organizes and hosts educational seminars, social events, and other programs. The Association promotes public understanding and appreciation for IP through education of the judicial, executive, and legislative branches of government by providing amicus briefs, regulatory comments, and feedback to policymakers.

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