Hello there AML people!
I have GREAT news to share with you all. I will be moderating the first of its kind Fashion Law Panel on my law school campus, UC Hastings College of the Law this Thursday, January 17th, 2013 at 6:00pm. In addition, the school has just approved the launch and establishment of a fashion law society, a first of its kind in Northern California & California. I am proud of my mentee Ashley Weiss who I was introduced to in October 2012 by a fellow Hastings alumni. She is on fire and I look forward to the impact the school will have in the fashion industry in Northern California.
I will tell you all a short story. It is a story with a simple lesson: BELIEVE in yourself, no matter what because in the final analysis, that is all that matters. You have been chosen to execute whatever gifts God has bestowed on you. Execute it even when others lack the vision to see what you see. Keep at it and eventually, they will come around.
It’s been over two decades since I have been dreaming in fashion and fashion law. I recall (13-14) years ago staging a fashion show on my law school campus, it was the first ever. I sweetly begged my classmates now colleagues to participate in the show. Lol! At the time, the then reigning Bay Area fashion designer James head was kind enough to participate in my show, call it paying me for my excellent work modeling in his clothes. 🙂 Subsequently, on the national level, I staged the first ever National Black Law Student Association (NBLSA) fashion show. Over 200 people showed up and it was a hit! Again I convinced my law school colleagues at the time to participate and also begged designer Mel Monroe, among others to participate. Mel Monroe flew in from California with his garments (menswear) to the event which if I recall was in Atlanta, to participate. Subsequently, in 2004 when the first ever San Francisco Fashion Week made its debut, which was organized by Erika Gessin, I said I needed to share Fashion Law with the burgeoning Fashion industry in San Francisco, a home to The Gap, Levi’s and the prestigious Academy of Art.
Gessin was kind enough to provide the platform where I taught the “Legally Fashionable” Intellectual Property and Business Law Seminar for two consecutive years. Through it all, many looked at me, especially within the legal industry, like I was crazy. Lol! There was always an unsaid, “are you really serious about law?” I think but for the fact that I was also a trial lawyer handling some rather tough cases in the criminal law and general civil litigation arena, I probably would have been summarily dismissed. Fast forward to 2013 and there is a gang of amazing fashion lawyers creating a movement to get this area of law that has floated in my head and one that I have experienced in my practice onto the legal and fashion map. As you know, there is power in numbers.
Moral of the story? Believe in yourself no matter how impossible things may seem.
A special shoutout to the following fashion lawyers: Staci Riordan – Fox Rothschild, LLP, Victoria Watkins – BAFFLED Blog, Charles Colman – Charles Coleman PLLC, Susan Scafidi – Professor at Fordham Fashion Law Institute, Kenya Wiley – Fashion Cloture, Mohammed Shariff – Fame Appeal, and countless others for your support and your drive to see Fashion Law become as commonplace as music/entertainment law.
AML people, a large part of you who read my blog are in the US. Come through if you can on January 17th, 2013. It will be good to meet you. See press release below for details of the event. I’m excited!
Cheers,
Uduak
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: UC Hastings to Host Inaugural Fashion Law Panel Moderated by Fashion Lawyer Uduak Oduok
(SAN JOSE, Jan. 9th, 2013) – On Thursday January 17th, 2013, The University of California Hastings College of the Law will host the first ever Fashion Law Panel in Northern California. The free event, which also plans to provide MCLE credit for attorneys attending, will be held at 200 Mc Allister Street, Hastings campus, from 6:00-7:15pm, with a reception to follow right after.
The event, co-produced and organized by Ebitu Law Group, P.C. (ELG), will be moderated by the firm’s Partner and Hastings alumni Uduak Oduok.
“I am delighted to return to Hastings after twelve years of graduating from the school to introduce the emerging field of fashion law to students, faculty and fellow colleagues,” said Oduok whose twenty years experience in the fashion industry encompasses fashion modeling, media, publishing, fashion production, branding, public relations and law.
“Hastings which is one of the top law schools in the country is uniquely positioned to push the emerging field of fashion law in Northern California. The school is located in San Francisco where Levi’s and The Gap, two global apparel brands, are headquartered.”
Indeed Oduok is right. Hastings boasts the #1 Moot court program in the country, the school has produced more judges than any other law school in California and as of this January 2013, The National Jurist ranked UC Hastings Chancellor & Dean Frank H. Wu as the most influential dean in legal education, #3 in the nation among legal educators and advocates influencing the ongoing debate about legal education.
Joining Oduok at the Hastings Fashion Law Panel are Mariessa Terrell, an attorney at SBC Law Group and former trademark attorney for the US Patent and Trademark Office, and Staci Riordan, a Partner and Chair for the Fashion Law Practice Group at Fox Rothschild, LLP.
“I am proud to be a part of the growth of the Fashion Law Movement and honored to be a part of this historic panel at UC Hastings College of the Law,” said Riordan. Riordan, who is also a former apparel industry executive, professor and descendant of a long line of garment makers, prepares to teach the first fashion law course at the newly formed fashion law program at Loyola Marrymount School of Law this January, a first in California.
Also joining the panel is San Francisco’s leading fashion designer Brian Scheyer of gr.dano. “It’s both exciting and promising that the Bay Area’s fashion community has grown to the level that it now warrants a discussion on Fashion Law,” said Scheyer who will provide the much needed perspective and insight on the fashion industry for attorneys and law students looking to work with fashion designers in the future.
For more information, visit www.ebitulawgrp.com.
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About Ebitu Law Group, P.C.
Founded in 2012, Ebitu Law Group (ELG), a Professional Corporation, is an experienced firm committed to the pursuit of legal excellence and client service. The firm remains uncompromising in delivering quality, compassionate and affordable solutions to its clients’ legal problems. The firm offers legal services in several practice areas including Fashion and Entertainment Law, Business Law and Litigation.
Contacts
Ebitu Law Group, P.C.
Uduak Oduok, Esq.
916-361-6506 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 
916-361-6506 FREE end_of_the_skype_highlighting
(uduak@ebitulawgrp.com)
www.ebitulawgrp.com.
