Fashion Law

Fashion Law

Enjoy learning about what’s trending today? Do you like to travel a lot and learn about various cultures? Do you want to help businesses protect their unique designs? Want to be like Elle Woods and be both a successful lawyer and a fashionista? Fashion law might be for you!

It’s not necessarily as glamorous as you think. There certainly is a lot of typical business work that needs to be taken care of from the legal side. Fordham University School of Law has identified four “pillars” of fashion law. These clearly identify the essentials of what this practice area entails (Fashion Law).

• Intellectual property
• Business and finance, including areas such as investment, employment law, and real estate
• International trade and government regulation, including sustainability, privacy, and issues related to wearable technology
• Consumer culture and civil rights

Clearly, fashion lawyers need to have a vast expanse of knowledge in a variety of areas to help their clients.

Have you ever wondered what celebrities do if counterfeits of their products are sold on the Internet? Better call a fashion lawyer! If this interests you, read on.

Education and Background:

As previously noted, Fordham Law School has a fantastic fashion law program. You can take J.D., LL.M. or MSL classes from their Fashion Law Institute.

Here are some other schools that offer some sort of fashion curriculum or organization:

• Loyola Law School
• New York Law School
• NYU Law School
• Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law: Yeshiva University

Thinking about working in fashion law, but your school doesn’t offer classes in it and you don’t know if you want to get an LL.M.? Try the Fashion Law Institute’s summer intensive bootcamp! Their website states, “Fashion Law Bootcamp is open to lawyers, fashion industry professionals, law students, and others in the U.S. and abroad who are interested in broadening their knowledge of the law and business of fashion” (Fashion Law Boot Camp). The program is eligible for CLE credit.

Loyola Law School also offers a weeklong summer intensive program. They even have an option for live-stream and download instead of actual attendance.

Getting a job:

The fashion industry has taken off over the past few years. Technology has led to smaller designers finding a place in the world of fashion, and social media has led to more awareness of the industry. More technology has also led to more rip-offs of legitimate brands and an ever-increasing need for fashion lawyers.

According to The Balance Careers, your clients may include, “designers, fashion houses, distributors, manufacturers, modeling agencies, retailers, and photographers” (Kane). You may be able to find a large law firm with a specialized fashion law team. Fox Rothschild is particularly well known for being such a firm. Apparel brands could also hire you. Under Armour, for example, believes in fiercely protecting its designs and intellectual property, which keeps its fashion lawyers quite busy! Again, although growing, this is a niche area. Do not expect it to be easy to find a job. There are a handful of law firms in the US with fashion lawyers. However, if you have a strong background in fashion, and particularly if you have gotten an LL.M. in it, there will be opportunities open to you.

Average salary:

This can be quite varied. However, intellectual property law in general is one of the highest-paying areas of law. Since fashion law is a subset of that, expect your pay to be slightly higher than an average lawyer’s salary.

Would you like this practice area?

Strengths/Weaknesses: Ever heard the saying, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”? Well, you need to be strong in both areas to succeed in fashion law. You must have vast knowledge about many different areas, be great at networking, and of course be incredibly creative at problem solving! If you are the type of person without a creative bone in your body, this is probably not the area of law for you.

Likes/Dislikes: If your favorite subject growing up was math or science, you may want to consider a different area. If your favorite subject was art, this is probably a good fit for you. If you want to spend every day in court, you probably should not become a fashion lawyer. If analyzing designs and focusing on nitty-gritty details is something that makes you thrive, this could be the area for you. Always had the travel bug? Many lawyers in this area are constantly traveling, which may be important to take into account!

Consider whether these articles interest you:

Kylie Minogue Cannot Block Eyewear Company from “Kylie” Trademark, Says EUIPO Appeals Board (TFL)

“The Kylie v. Kylie fight has moved on from legal representatives for Kylie Minogue and Kylie Jenner. On the heels of a highly-publicized trademark showdown between the Aussie singer and the 21-year reality star-slash-makeup mogul, Minogue has been waging a fight against Saldum Ventures in an attempt to block the registration of “Kylie” for use of sunglasses by the Spanish company, which owns an growing array of e-commerce brands.” Read more

UGG’s Parent Company Names Target in New Lawsuit for Selling Lookalike Footwear (TFL)

“The litigation spree that UGG’s parent company Deckers has initiated against the makers of lookalike UGG boots has a new case in the mix. Three years after filing suit against Target for allegedly offering up copies of UGG’s Bailey Button boots, Deckers has filed a new suit against Target, accusing the Minneapolis-headquartered retailer of copying the same trade dress and patent-protected boot and selling them in “bad faith.”” Read more

Kanye West’s Inclusion in Yeezy Supplier Lawsuit is “Baseless,” Counsel Argues (TFL)

“Kanye West is angling to get himself out of the lawsuit filed against him by a fabric supplier for his Yeezy brand. Earlier this year, Japanese textile firm Toki Sen-I Co. filed suit against Yeezy Apparel LLC and West for allegedly failing to make good on a $600,000-plus contract they signed, and for operating Yeezy Apparel in a fraudulent way, namely, as “a mere shell and sham without capital, assets, membership interests, or members other than Kanye … intended, conceived [of], and used by Kanye as a device to avoid individual liability.”” Read more

Fashion Lawyer Spotlight:

Leonard N. Budow is chair of the Fashion Law Practice Group at Fox Rothschild. He frequently travels to Europe and has a deep knowledge of everything fashion-related. At the end of his interview, when asked what other comments he had to add about his practice area, he simply stated, “It’s great!” Leonard could not have been more positive about fashion law, a promising sign for anyone passionate about working in that area.

Leonard’s interview

Q: How long have you been a lawyer?

A: 39 years

Q: Where did you go to law school?

A: Boston University

Q: What practice area(s) have you practiced?

A: Fashion

Q: What size is your firm?

A: Fox is over 950 lawyers

Q/A: Describe an average day at work…

Do you go to court? Never

Do you work with others? Yes

Do you talk on the phone or write emails? Yes

Do you draft documents? Yes

Do you manage others? Yes

Do you deal with difficult people? Yes

Q: Did you practice in any other practice areas before deciding on this one?

A: No

Q: How many hours a week do you typically work?

A: 60-85

Q: What do you like most about your job/practice area?

A: Everything

Q: What do you least like about your job/practice area?

A: Not applicable

Treat the law as a métier, work harder than everyone else

– Leonard N. Budow

Conclusion:

People might joke that you are trying to be the next Legally Blonde, but fashion law is a growing area that requires expansive knowledge and skill. It’s a much-needed niche area that requires incredible creativity to succeed in.