LAWYER AND ADVISOR TO CREATIVE LEADERS, EXECUTIVES AND FOUNDERS
When people hear that I'm a lawyer in fashion, they picture a couture show at the Grand Palais in Paris — the champagne, the runway lights, the front row seat.
That seat exists. But I'm not in it.
I'm somewhere else, trying to explain to a star designer why he can't use his own name.
Too often a creative signs a bad deal without knowing it. The main factor is inadequate representation, including a one-dimensional perspective:
His lawyer in the deal, if any, didn’t explain that trademark=name. Sell one, sell the other.
A business advisor, if he had one, didn’t explain that he can't use his name in another business.
If he had a personal adviser, they didn’t explain the everyday hardships caused when you can’t use your name.
In every client engagement, I approach these issues from 3 perspectives: lawyer, business advisor, and personal advisor.
Had I worked with that designer before the deal, we wouldn’t be there.
25 years’ experience: lawyer and strategic advisor to 60+ founders, creatives, and other executives. I’ve negotiated for creative directors in their engagements with more than 20 luxury brands, and I am a Columbia-Certified coach.
“Imagine you’re a designer with talent dripping from your fingertips - Gucci wants you. Prada wants you. You want Elizabeth Pearce...” “…the fashion lawyer extraordinaire…”