“Madeleine, I’ve been researching and writing this biography for 9 years. It seems like my entire life. The manuscript has been approved for publication and I’ve just received a 9 page contract from the publishing company. I’m terrified. What do I do?”

This skilled, knowledgeable writer told me her issues and concerns. We identified particular clauses in the contract that were supportive and some that were not. We chose to arrange a conference call with the publishing house editor who was in charge of the book, so that I could raise the issues as if they were mine, leaving the writer in a non-challenging role. To prepare for the call, we prepared a list of talking points showing how each change we wanted would help the project succeed for the publisher. The editor was pleased to review the contract, and point by point used his flexibility to adjust every aspect my client and I had targeted. The revised copy was still 9 pages long, but it now included fair delivery dates, fair payment terms, enough time to secure photographic illustration permissions, and unusual copyediting control for my client. Today the book seems bound to become a Broadway play.

negotiations

Negotiations is the art of reaching terms of agreement

In my work at the Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, I encountered the aspirations and frustrations of the arts community. I established my law firm precisely to answer the pervasive need among artists and artist groups for legal consultations, advice, reference and contacts to protect artists’ artistic endeavors.

With a foot in both worlds, I am uniquely able to translate artists’ concerns into contract language. I work with my client to understand their key issues and then speak with the other parties to understand how the current contract language came to be, and how we might amend it to take my client’s needs into consideration. Typically, after a few letters and telephone calls the issues are settled for the better. It sounds easy, but the language of law has its own multilayered set of meanings that need to be understood in order to create positive, binding contracts. Similarly, artists use a shorthand of their own which business entities often do not understand. During negotiations I explain each side to the other.