Drafting, Drafting, Drafting

Its about that time of the year when most high school seniors begin applying to colleges and writing their personal statements and revise them until its perfect. Thankfully my mentor, Mr. Blanco, worked in the admissions office for Yale while he was a student there, which comes in extremely handy. I began writing some of these personal statements and asked my mentor to look them over.

Mr. Blanco experiences at Yale did wonders on my essay revisions, even though we're still in the process of drafting them. In the process he took the time to relate the revision process to contracts in law. As an example, he shared with me a contract for a new show called Epic Meal Time in which he had made several revisions and was working on the final draft. Mr. Blanco states that when looking over a contract, " You need everything to be clear, we can't leave room for misinterpretation because that's how these things end up in court. The same goes for your essay, you want to clearly express why a college should admit you, so there's no room for redundancy or incoherent statements."

Mr. Blanco went in to great detail as to how everything in a contract is taken at face value and therefore must mean what it says and make sense so other parties can interpret it the same way. For example, take something as simple as when your parent ask you to wash the car. Your parent never specifying a time would allow for misinterpretation on your part, while your parent meant wash the car now, you saw it as wash the car whenever. This is a common occurrence in law, mostly with payment methods or deposits.

I can't share a picture of the contract as it would violate a code of ethics for my mentor but I'll find an example with revision and update this post with it.

Blog 6 - Second Interview Preparation

1.  Who is your mentor and where do they work?

  My mentor is Federico Blanco and he works for a digital media company known as The Collective as head of the legal department.

2.  What five questions will you ask them about their background?

1.  Where did you get your qualifications? (License to practice, degree, etc)
2. How long have you worked in this field?
3. Did you participate in any internships either in college or high school?
4. What have you noticed that has changed most in this field in recent years? How does that affect what you do?
5.  Have you practiced any other kind of law? If so, which and why?

Blog 5 - Mentorship and Research Reflection

1. Describe your experience in how you found your mentorship?

     Finding my mentor was fairly quick. My cousin's husband, Federico Blanco, is the head of the legal department for a digital media company known as The Collective. Mr. Blanco took an interest in me because to him I seemed like a, "Pedantic and assiduous kid." and I aspired to go to law school as he had. Prior to Junior year ending, I was searching for a small practitioner in the law field that was willing to be my mentor. I had not considered asking Mr.Blanco because I didn't want to bother him with the idea. However, we were having lunch one day and he inquired about the Senior project and what it entailed. Immediately after the mention of a mentor, he simply said, "Well, I could be your mentor if you'd like." and I jumped at the chance to work with him, not only because of his position at his company, but also because I knew he actually cared about my growth as a student and would take the time to teach me everything he possibly could.

2. Research question: What has been your most important article you have read so far and why? 

     The most import article I have read has been pages 29-35 in Entertainment Law by Jeffrey Helewitz and Leah Edwards. Concepts of entertainment, especially when looked at from a legal perspective can be somewhat confusing. In this article and throughout the book, there are examples, definitions and exhibits (case studies) to reference in order to ensure a strong understanding of the material being presented in the book. In addition to aiding me in defining some legal terms and concepts, the article has also expanded my knowledge on the rules and regulations of entertainment law. For example, you use a copyright to claim ownership of a work of art or literature, but say that work was created for a company, now that company has exclusive rights to that work as well as whoever else helped make it. Consequently, a trademark is used more as a form of distinguishing a product from a similar one in the marketplace and can only represent one entity. Examples like these along with in depth explanations have greatly helped me understand the world of entertainment law in a better way.