The diversity of courses of study in law still amazes me. We offer a seminar in Art Law, and we even provide an opportunity to do clinical work. Professor Terry Martin leads the program (for a recent discussion with Prof. Martin on art as cultural property, visit this link). I just heard from one of our students who told me about Art Law possibilities in the summer. Here’s her email.
“I’ve been working this summer at a group called Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts here in Boston. The organization is dedicated to helping local artists and arts organizations find affordable or free legal help. That means matching up artists with Boston lawyers who have expertise in art law and are willing to donate their time to help artists.
“Additionally, we take a lot of cases in-house, and since the office is so small it means the legal interns get a ton of hands-on experience. So far I’ve drafted a contract for an illustrator, reviewed agreements for a documentary film distribution deal, helped an artist negotiate a severance package with her employer, and researched various book parodies to determine whether they were copyright infringements or protected free speech.
“Since I’m interested in publishing, the executive director of our group asked me to work on creating a seminar about publishing law. I’m really learning as I go on this one, but the VLA has great contacts in the field and has done a lot of work in publishing in the past, so I have a lot of resources to draw from. One of the best parts of the job is the other people in the office–it’s such a friendly, open atmosphere and we’re constantly encouraged to learn more and try out our post-1L legal skills.”
