The Importance of Choosing and Building a Practice Area
In the short time that I have been a lawyer, many people have impressed upon me the importance of carving out a practice niche. First professors, then mentors, and now colleagues have all stressed that finding a unique practice space for yourself within the profession is crucial. Recognizing the importance is one thing, but as a young lawyer working in your first job out of law school, how exactly are you supposed to know what you want to pursue and that there is a need out there for you to fill?
February 04, 2015 at 05:28 PM
8 minute read
In the short time that I have been a lawyer, many people have impressed upon me the importance of carving out a practice niche. First professors, then mentors, and now colleagues have all stressed that finding a unique practice space for yourself within the profession is crucial. Recognizing the importance is one thing, but as a young lawyer working in your first job out of law school, how exactly are you supposed to know what you want to pursue and that there is a need out there for you to fill?
I was fascinated to read that the artist Jeff Koons has recently gotten into hot water again for allegedly basing a sculpture on a third party's creative work. The artist has been accused of plagiarizing a 1985 advertisement for French clothing brand Naf Naf. My interest in the intersection of the arts and the law is organic and longstanding. Many of my friends and acquaintances work in the creative industry. I have an undergraduate degree in the history of art, and I worked with a university art gallery and art collection before law school. My experiences at the other end of the table cemented that working with arts clients in a legal capacity was my strength, and something I wanted to pursue as part of a practice. I realize, however, that for many of my friends and colleagues, defining a niche is not as easy.
The first and most crucial step in creating your niche involves some self-exploration and some trial and error. Think about experiences from your past that could inform your growth as an attorney. Are you particularly good at working with a certain type of client? Do other people seek you out for advice on a particular area? As you begin to sculpt your own career, here are a few tips on how, as a young lawyer, you can build a resume and create a niche in today's legal climate.
Communicate Your Focus to Others
One of the problems I face when trying to describe my practice area is that the field I want to pursue lacks neat parameters. It is referred to by many as “art law.” From my experience, it is more precise to call it an “arts-focused” practice. To me, this means a practice that serves the legal needs of cultural institutions, handles transactions surrounding cultural property, and the legal relationships of creative individuals (arts clients). Lawyers working in this space focus on the legal transactions arts clients enter, as well as the transfer and care of the work that these clients create or try to acquire. Legal issues in an arts-focused practice flow largely from intellectual property, nonprofit tax and governance, entertainment, employment law, trusts and estates, tax, international law, cultural heritage law, contract law, and entity formation issues (just to name a few).
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