Lacy J Lodes ’08 has a passion for IP (Intellectual Property for those new to law school). For her first job after admission to the California bar, Lodes traveled the globe representing a company that made athletic power wrist bands and enforcing IP rights. Before that, Lodes worked for Upper Deck Trading Cards, enforcing trademarks and doing licensing deals. Now Lodes works for Weston Anson at CONSOR. the leading intellectual asset consulting firm specializing in trademark, technology, and copyright licensing, valuation, and expert testimony. The firm is headquartered in La Jolla and has offices in New York and London. Anson is one of the top IP damages experts in the nation, and has provided evaluations in hundreds of publicity rights cases involving famous clients such as Woody Allen vs. American Apparel and Paris Hilton v. Hallmark Cards.
When Lodes was tasked with organizing a panel for Hollywood's leading bar group, the Beverly Hills Bar Association, she turned to her law school mentor, Professor Greene, to moderate the event titled “Right of Publicity: How Much is Your Client Really Worth?” In need of an additional panelist, Professor Greene counseled Lodes to reach out to David White, a Harvard-educated lawyer and the first African-American president of the Screen Actors Guild who is known for his intellect and charm as "Hollywood's Obama." Two years earlier, Professor Greene had shared the stage with White at the National Bar Association's annual convention in San Diego and he says “the two men hit it off.” White accepted Lode's invitation to join the Hollywood panel on celebrity publicity right's to be held on Wednesday, March 21, at noon at Lawry’s in Beverly Hills. Also on the panel with Ansor and White will be Douglas L. Johnson, partner at Johnson & Johnson LLP, and Ken Markman, CEO of KKM Global Brand Strategies.
Numerous cases have arisen in recent years over the right to control the commercial use of celebrities’ names and likenesses, which is money in the bank for them and their representatives. The panel of experts will discuss how counsel can proactively protect their celebrity clients and their right of publicity, how to value a client’s celebrity, deal structures, how to measure and quantify a damaged right of publicity and how damages can be defended by a specialized expert.
According to Professor Greene, Lodes is making a name for herself in the industry, combining her dedication to all things IP with people skills that are “extraordinary.”
"Lacy J represents the best of TJSL," said Professor Greene. "As a professor, my job is to help our students and grads meet their aspirations. When we partner together, remarkable things happen. To me, that's the promise--and the magic--of what we strive for here at TJSL."
The luncheon is open to law students for $45 in advance at http://www.bhba.org/intus/event3/signup.asp?event_id=3034
California attorneys who attend can earn 1.5 hours of MCLE credit.
