Top Grand Bay, AL Art Law Lawyers Near You

Artists Must Protect Their Work

Artists may view themselves as free spirits who exist beyond the crude demands of business life, but they need protection from fraud, theft, and bad business practices too. No matter what kind of artist you are, you must protect what you make from unethical people who may exploit you or steal your work outright. Also, if you sell your works, you need to understand accounting, contracts, billing, taxes, and copyrights.

Artists Legal Options

If you are an artist, you should consult with a Grand Bay artist attorney to ensure your work is protected, help you copyright or trademark your creations, develop contracts for your work; and address the tax consequences of being an independent contractor.

Top Questions to Ask When Hiring an Attorney

• How many years have you been practicing law? How long have you practiced law in the local area?
• How many cases similar to mine have you handled in the past?
• What is the likely outcome for my case?

In legal practice, experience matters. An experienced attorney will likely have handled issues similar to yours many, many times. Therefore, after listening to your situation, the attorney should have a reasonable idea of the time line for a case like yours and the likely resolution.

Tips on Approaching an Initial Attorney Consultation

• Use the consultation as a means of gaining a better understanding of your legal situation.
• Ask the attorney how many cases similar to yours he/she has handled. An attorney’s experience and knowledge can speak to their expertise (or lack of) in addressing your situation.
• Your attorney should be able to articulate roughly how long a case like yours will take to resolve and what sort of procedures to expect.
• Determine how comfortable you are working with the lawyer and/or law firm.

Points to Consider Before Hiring a Lawyer

Experience. Regardless of the type of legal matter you need help with, an experienced attorney will usually be able to get you better results.

Competence. Determine an attorney’s expertise by asking about their track record for the issue you need help with resolving.

Fit. There are plenty of good attorneys out there; make sure you find one you are comfortable working with.

Common legal terms explained

Personal jurisdiction – Requirement that a particular court have authority over a person, in order to bind that person to the judgment of the court, based on minimum contacts. International Shoe Co v. Washington is a landmark Supreme Court case outlining the scope of a state court’s reach in personal jurisdiction.