Rates are on the same level with that of your webmaster, lawn service, auto mechanic, life coach or therapist. My lowest sliding scale rates are $100 an hour. If you can afford full attorney fees ($200-400+), your honesty in this matter would be much appreciated and it will help me provide the sliding scales that other equally deserving but less affluent artists desperately need. I promise to still give you a better rate than anyone around, ok? Some of you might want an attorney that is always on retainer, i.e., on call for consultation and work whenever you need it, and we can make an arrangement for a flat monthly rate. Some of you will realize how low $100 bucks an hour is, and some of you will think that having an attorney is too expensive for your tastes. For the latter, that’s ok, when you have a problem later, which most of you serious and talented artists will eventually have, your retainer for litigation will probably be at least as much as that for a divorce, and that is if your legal problems haven’t compounded into several lawsuits involving numerous parties.
How to Pay: You can call anytime for the traditional face to face meetings, representation, and payments, of course. We can also operate in cyberspace from across the world with video-conferencing, e-chats, phones, faxes, emails, you name it. I'll soon have Paypal or credit card capabilities and can do phone consulting, billing, etc., from cyber-here to your cyber-there. I am usually situated physically in New York City but also have offices in Central and Southern Arizona. Sometimes, not often, we might need to find reputable attorneys from jurisdictions in which I am not licensed (I am licensed in NY, AZ, and will soon join the WA bar). Entertainment lawyers cover a wide area of legal needs for their clients. I can help you with contracts, corporation or business formations, licensing, copyrights, trademarks, mediation or arbitration of disputes, some probate and criminal matters if those become issues for you. Much of this work with you will simply be doing music or arts law representation and consultation, mostly involving federal copyright or trademark statutes and I can do that for anyone, anywhere, anytime. However, sometimes an outside legal or professional specialist is needed for a different but related area of law, say, for example, bankruptcy or tax problems. In that case, I would help you find a reputable attorney to assist.
Mary Street 1978. Photo Copyright © 2006 1977 Kathleen Williamson