Monday Mentors with Houston Entertainment Lawyer Erin Rodgers

Erin Rodgers, entertainment lawyer and shareholder at Rodgers Selvera, joins us on today's show! Erin talks about the ever changing entertainment industry, knowing your value, and the interest section on your resume.

Her firm/practice

• Partnered with Sergio Selvera
  • He had stopped practicing for a time to start a record label when he came to a CLE where she was speaking.
  • She became his lawyer for a time, and then he decided he wanted to practice again and they decided to partner up
• Entertainment law
  • Music/TV/Writers/etc.
  • Non-profit
  • IP / contractual
• She has a music degree and is still a performer, which has helped her build the practice through the relationships she has
• Houston is the 4th largest city in the country so there is a lot of art business
  • Austin has a better marketing department for its arts scene
  • But much of the work is federal and the communication can be done remotely, so geography doesn't tend to matter as much
• Being an artist helps her understand what clients are going through as new technologies/distribution/etc. issues come up
• Textbooks can't keep up with the changes in the industry
  • Students can help you keep up!
  • One record label friend says they are predominately marketing new music via Tik Tok and Fortnite
• Why not you? (when it comes to practicing entertainment law)
• Do something every day that moves you forward to the thing you want to do.
• Entertainment Law is an amalgam of things that already exist (copyright, entity formation, trademarks, etc.)
• Non-profit/entertainment/sports have quite a bit of overlap, and for the arts sometimes the entity itself should be a non-profit
• There is a new Copyright Royalty Board
  • Essentially a small claims court/mediation for copyright, since so many "violations" go unchallenged due to the high cost of lawsuits
  • Pros/cons: will make many more people/companies likely to be challenged for their work that takes from others
  • A panel is supposed to make decisions

Advice to lawyers in practice

• If you want to practice entertainment law, volunteering with the Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts can provide great experience
• Show your sincere interest in the practice
• Don't make it more convenient / less costly in time for the lawyer/partner do just do it themselves as opposed to showing you how
• Know the value of the service that you offer
  • If you aren't charging enough, some people/potential clients/referrers may assume you aren't good
  • Understand the market
  • Setting your rates can help you filter what type of clients you work with
• On Work/Life Balance
  • Make the choice as early on as you can
  • Prioritize certain things on top of your law practice, even if its small chunks of time
  • Minimize the amount of work that isn't billable
    • That we can do everything ourselves doesn't mean we should

Advice to Lawyers On The Lateral Market

• Highlight specific experience that relates to the position, the industry
• Interests section matters!
• "want to work in a small office" not the best response to why do you want to work here. Maybe that could be the 4th/5th thing on the list, but certainly shouldn't be the first.
• Employers can tell when you are sending the same cover letter to every job/employer. Tailor your cover letters! She actually gave credit to those who voluntarily submitted a cover letter when it wasn't asked for.

Rapid Fire Questions

1. Name one trait/characteristic you most want to see in an associate: think on your feet / adaptable
2. What habit has been key to your success: work/life balance
3. Favorite app/productivity tool: pen/paper list and random number generator
4. What would be listed first on the interest line of your resume: playing music (clarinet, accordion, guitar, piano, vocals)
5. Favorite legal movie: Legally Blonde / Lone Star Lawyers Movie Verdicts Episode

Thanks again to Erin Rodgers for joining us on today's show!