Amy Weaver, Salesforce general counsel

Legal leaders from Salesforce, Uber and other California-based companies have backed proposed revisions to state restrictions on in-house pro bono work.

More than 30 general counsel and chief legal officers, including Uber's Tony West and Salesforce's Amy Weaver, have signed a letter supporting the Association of Corporate Counsel's recommended changes to proposed revisions from the California State Bar on California Rule of Court 9.46 and California Rule of the State Bar 3.372.

“It was a really burdensome system that California had set up, so when we heard that California was looking at re-examining its special admission rules, we reached out to the committee and said, 'Hey we've been involved in a lot of other states' efforts to change their pro bono rules as applied to in-house counsel, can we offer some suggestions,” said Mary Blatch, the ACC's associate general counsel and director of advocacy.

The state bar's proposals, if passed, would eliminate the requirement for registered in-house counsel who are not licensed in the state of California but work in-house in the state to also become a registered legal services attorney. Current proposals also would allow RIHC to do pro bono work through their employer.

In Monday's ACC letter, the organization recommended the California state bar also remove the requirement for RIHC to use that title and no other in their job related activities, a rule the ACC letter stated leads to “unnecessary confusion between organizational roles and the registration status of in-house counsel.”

The ACC also recommended additional changes to California Rule of Court 9.46, including the expanding “eligible legal aid organization” for RIHC to include nonprofits and criminal justice work, the removal of RIHC's required supplemental form to provide pro bono services and that RIHC's pro bono work not be required to be supervised by a licensed California attorney.

“If they didn't have to supervise a person who was not licensed in California, they could take on a separate matter of their own. It takes up resources,” Blatch said. “Registered in-house counsel, they are licensed attorneys who have been admitted in other states. The need for them to be supervised is very low in our estimation.

Blatch said that pro bono efforts in corporate legal departments have become increasingly popular in recent years, with many in-house teams partnering with outside organizations and law firms.

“I think, just like all members of the bar, in-house counsel want to be able to give back, and a great way for attorneys to do so is to provide pro bono legal services that only attorneys can provide,” she said.

In addition to Salesforce and Uber, those signed their names on the letter supporting the ACC's recommendations included Macy's CLO Elisa Garcia; The Gap EVP and global GC Julie Gruber; Accenture GC and CCO Chad Jerdee; Bank of America global GC David Leitch; PayPal SVP and general counsel Wanji Walcott; and Verizon EVP of public policy and general counsel Craig Silliman.

Read the GCs' letter below: