E50: Season 5 Episode 5 – Best of Blackletter

On this special episode of the Black Letter Podcast, we highlight our favorite top talking points over the course of the entire show.  

Business Development & Marketing Your Professional Services  

As experts, we need to get really good at managing our opportunities, our relationships, and ourselves. Mo Bunnell advises that you write down our opportunities and which relationships matter to us most. Once a week, you sit down and assess the first two, and pick three things you would like to focus on to move forward either an opportunity or a relationship. 

Legal Issues in the Business of Making Independent Films   

Kurt Klaus and Mikail Chowdhury explain the three things anyone needs to know about the business of making independent films. They emphasize that final cut rights need to be reserved to the production studio that owns the rights. They also stress clearance, and that every single piece of paperwork is documented and correct from the beginning.  

When it comes to the film industry, it’s not a matter of winning or losing, it’s the fact that litigation is involved and causing lots of people lots of money. Litigation delays distribution. Additionally, you will want to make sure your performers contractually all line up in the beginning as the end.  

A Deep Dive into Political Consulting  

As a political candidate, no matter the party, there are three main takeaways in order to run a successful campaign. You have to be able to raise money, you must have a solid, authentic message, and you must have the right people working for you. 

Immigrating to the United States  

 Gerald LeMelle gives his top three pieces of advice for anyone immigrating to the U.S. He says you must assume that the U.S. is trying to keep you out. You will need to make sure all your paperwork is in order as well. Additionally, the process is more personal than you think. Therefore, you must share everything with your attorney. Share your story, your struggles, share your dreams because these are real people and you can appeal to their humanity. Overall, little things mean a lot in the immigration area. Lastly, the process is extremely slow, so you don’t want hiccups because hiccups can cause 2-3 year delays. 

Corporate Law: Selling and Protecting Solutions   

Royee Warrick and John E. Panichella express the main priorities as general counsel. Royee iterates a focus on customers, and to solve the customers’ problems that manifest in different ways. In other words, the mindset has to be support centric. 

You must also be mission focused, connecting with the people in a very personal way. You have to protect your assets, as you have shareholders to whom you have a responsibility. You want to make sure to have the right culture and employee experience, Additionally, you must align everything you do to the business strategy and adjust to trends, while staying true to core values. 

Corporate Financial Solutions During Covid-19 

Bruce Coombes offers advice to entrepreneurs in these trying times. He states that you must determine how much cash you need to start and make sure you’ve got twice that amount of money. The reason why is that it will take more than you think and longer than you think to achieve the success you want. He also suggests to get good advice from a lawyer and a CPA, and ones with which you get along. He also says you must be prepared to pivot, accept the brutal fact that something isn’t working and move one.  

Commercial Lending 

George Cave and Robert Deal explain that in banking, relationships are imperative. Additionally, they relay the important of understanding the marketplace, and being diligent about having the right resources to fully understand the marketplace. They also suggest figuring out what you value the most and sticking by that.  

Non-Competes Advice and Tips 

David Ludwig and Ben Barlow discuss how to handle non-competes in this time of Covid. They reiterate how we don’t know what we don’t know. The state of the law is changing to quickly that we can’t always rely on the past. They also advise getting legal help with non-competes, as every state has slightly different laws on it. Lastly, they mention to use common sense. If you have an employee who hasn’t taken a lot, don’t enforce the right of non-compete just because you can. You must ask yourself if it’s better for your business to enforce a non-compete or if it’s just a waste of time and money? 

Resources:

Tom Dunlap: LinkedIn 

Blackletter: Website 

Dunlap Bennett & Ludwig: Website