Chicago Lawyer Magazine Interviews Wahl on City's Expanding Entertainment Legal Market
Chicago Lawyer Magazine interviewed Entertainment and Media Law partner Michelle M. Wahl for her thoughts on Chicago's expanding entertainment legal market.In "Hitting the Right Notes," Wahl tells readers:
“Besides the raw talent that fills Chicago’s amazing venues, our musicians, artists and entertainers are among the most knowledgeable in the industry,” said Swanson, Martin & Bell, LLP partner Michelle Wahl.
“They don’t just focus on honing their craft; they also invest in learning their business. They’re keeping abreast of the changes in the law. They’re paying attention to industry trends and then they’re tweaking their business models to help ensure that their efforts will have a positive effect on their livelihood,” she said.
In addition, Wahl also addressed the challenges that independent musicians and content creators face, saying:
Chief among them is that young, independent artists building nascent careers don’t tend to have a lot of money. And the little money they do have is not likely to be spent on attorneys. To build clientele, then, Chicago entertainment attorneys must take the long view, Wahl said.
“So I always want to have my clients’ best interests at heart — even my future ones. There have been times when I’ve been approached by potential clients and it’s very clear that they don’t need an attorney at that moment,” she said.
“They’re very business savvy, they’re asking all the right questions, they have all the right information. And as a gesture of good faith, I’ll let them know that it’s premature for them to need me for this reason or that reason. You have to pay it forward. And then when they really do need an attorney, they know who to turn to,” she said.
To read the full article, please visit Chicago Lawyer's website.“So I always want to have my clients’ best interests at heart — even my future ones. There have been times when I’ve been approached by potential clients and it’s very clear that they don’t need an attorney at that moment,” she said.
“They’re very business savvy, they’re asking all the right questions, they have all the right information. And as a gesture of good faith, I’ll let them know that it’s premature for them to need me for this reason or that reason. You have to pay it forward. And then when they really do need an attorney, they know who to turn to,” she said.
In addition to Entertainment and Media Law, Wahl concentrates her practice on Intellectual Property Litigaton and Transactional Services, Asbestos LItigaton and Toxic Tort Litigation.
