Legal Fixation

Away we go

Yes, we've finally caught up to the law blog bandwagon and managed to hop on board. As the description indicates, we'll be covering a number of bases here, generally IP-related (excluding patents) but frequently touching on the whys, hows and wherefores of getting our firm up and running. So if all goes well, you'll find this a good source of substantive legal commentary as well as useful practice tips. And if we can figure out a way to fold some humor into the mix as well, we'll go ahead and do that too.

As a bit of background, we started the firm in January of this year after I (Matt) finally convinced Aaron through a strategic flood of "let's start a firm!" emails and IMs. So we bought The Book, pooled our resources, thanked our families for believing in us, and found ourselves an office in beautiful, historic downtown Newburyport.

Which leads me to our first practice tip for those of you considering hanging your shingle: the Chamber of Commerce is your friend. Or at least it could be, if it's an active one. Our is very active indeed, with weekly breakfast meet-and-greets, monthly informational seminars, and numerous other very well-attended events. We've met lots of interesting people, some of whom may be potential clients, and -- perhaps more importantly at this stage -- some of whom are very useful resources to keep in our back pockets for the future. The contacts we're making are sure to pay off far more than the membership fee cost us.

And as an added bonus, as neither of us live in Newburyport, attending these events makes us feel like we're becoming a part of the community here. We chose to locate here not only because it's a relatively short commute from both our homes and is convenient to Boston, but because it's a vibrant, culture-rich city. It's very important to us, particularly given the nature of our practice, that we get as involved as possible with that cultural community, and being a chamber member is one step down that path.

So to sum up: Chamber membership = full Rolodex + warm fuzzies.

Now for your substantive law fix, go read this excellent summary of a recent trademark infringement suit involving a fancy kitchen store in Portsmouth New Hampshire and the company with the very lonely repairman.

posted by Matthew Saunders @ 1:07 PM