“I am forever indebted to you for insisting that I have that attorney conversation,” my writing coach client’s email read.
He hadn’t wanted to consult a literary attorney regarding the online writing and video project he had embarked on, mostly because he didn’t think it was necessary. I disagreed. Really disagreed. So I kept bringing up the subject whenever the opportunity presented itself.
Annoying?
I’m sure. But I’m nothing if not protective of my clients, who all seem more like friends than customers.
It turned out that my client’s assumptions were not quite on point. That could have gotten him in a lot of trouble. Instead, he and Kathryn Goldman — editor in chief of the Creative Law Center and a lawyer at Goldman & Minton, P.C. — came up with a plan of action he’s now embarking on. “His project has a lot of promise,” she wrote me in response to the email I’d sent thanking her for the help.
Other clients, including two writing memoirs, have expressed similar hesitation about popping for a legal consultation despite my repeated, not-so-subtle hints about its advisability. When I mentioned that to Kathryn, she suggested they watch the replay of a workshop she had offered called How to Minimize Risk When Writing Memoir.
“In the workshop, I talk to two different memoirists, both of whom I did clearance work for,” she explained. “I breakdown the kinds of claims that can be made against memoirists and how to defend against them. It would be an easy way for [them] to get a handle on the risk [they’re] undertaking.”
If you’re writing a memoir, I would suggest you take a look. For any other legal concerns related to a work you’re publishing online or as a book, I have four words for you: Better safe than sorry.
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