Here’s a great example of new opportunities opening for paralegals: The Daily Report (Atlanta) ran a story today that talks about Loeb & Loeb (my old alma mater) and other major Los Angeles firms that have opened a new fashion and luxury items practice group. Daily Report
While fashion law in Los Angeles isn’t an original, the new groups hail from midsized firms rather than the traditional boutiques that have dominated the field.
“Fashion and apparel has kind of exploded across all spectrums on its own, and for professional service providers, because so much money has come into the industry from private equity, and because the larger apparel conglomerates are making acquisitions,” said James Williams, chairman of Loeb & Loeb’s fashion and luxury brands industry group. “It’s a changed industry.”
Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton, which announced its fashion apparel team about a year ago, lured top fashion designer lawyer Ted Max from Boston-based Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo to its New York office. Sheppard Mullin also began publishing a blog that covers legal aspects and legislation in the fashion world.
For those of you who would like to follow your passion and desire to work in the fashion industry but can’t sew, design or walk a runway, this may hold a solution for you. If money is a factor for you, bear in mind that larger firms often pay more. Now is the time to create positions in an industry that holds an interest for you. Just a few of the specialties firms will need paralegals in the fashion industry: IP, copyright, trademark, litigation and corporate come to mind immediately. And to think I flunked sewing class in middle school. Who knew?
