April Post

I remember this time last year when I had to sign up for presentations, and I can't believe people will be signing up for mine. I'm excited as well as nervous for these next few weeks of school but the summer will definitely be worth all this hard work. I feel that I am prepared for my presentation as well as my exit interview all I need is practice. I'd like to thank my friends for their support and wish Alan, Vince V, Victor, and Chris good luck on their presentations and interviews. Although we aren't done yet, the remaining work that needs to be done such as the I-Search paper  will and lesson plans will be extremely important in the following weeks, I can't wait!

EXCITED

Blog 19: Independent Component 2

LITERAL
(a)  I, Aaron Ramos, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 30 hours of work.
 
(b) For general knowledge and advisement, Mentor- Federico Blanco, while constructing the contract for the deal- Scott, Robert E, and George G Triantis. "Anticipating Litigation in Contract Design." The Yale Law Journal, 115.4 (2006): 845-856. And finally the article I referred to most when in negotiations was Ertel, Danny. "Getting Past Yes: Negotiating as if Implementation Mattered." Harvard Business Review, 82.11 (2004): 60.
 
(c) Update your Independent Component 2 Log (which should be under your Senior Project Hours link) Done
 
(d) In this independent component I negotiated  a deal from start to finish. Meaning I  drafting the legal documents, conferred with the clients, sent initial offers and revised deals that the counter part has sent us.
 
INTERPRETIVE  
This component allowed me to actually do the work that my mentor does on a regular basis and therefore gave me a better understanding of the field and all the work that is done in it. This component gave me the opportunity to decide whether or not I would be interested in pursuing this area of law this as a career. This component demonstrates 30 hours of work in that the process conducted in the  component such as conferring with a client to drafting the document for one deal can a long time. Unfortunately due to privacy reasons I can't post pictures of the deal I drafted or the clients I worked with (they didn't let me take pictures) I can only post the cover page of the deal.

 
APPLIED 
The component helped me answer my EQ by allowing me to experience the work of a lawyer in my field which made me think about the best way  to get my client what they wanted. Throughout the component, especially when it came to negotiating compensation and the time the deal would be implemented I found that the best way to negotiate these terms was through using cleat language and being direct. Not only did this component help me answer my EQ it also supported one of my answers.

March Post

After closing his most recent deal, my mentor is going to be featured in the Hollywood Reporter as Hollywood's Top 100 Entertainment lawyers.
He and I have been working closely on my independent component and a few other deals during my mentorship, my mentor has also been helping me in creating an activity for my final presentation. We have recently made new connections with one of our old deals, Epic Meal Time, so you will be seeing those actors in a few more media platforms.My mentor has also been giving me previous deals to study and applying that knowledge in current deals he lets me sit in on. Other than that, work at the Collective has been the same.

Epic Meal Time host Harley Morenstein

Blog 18: Fourth Interview Preparation

Content: Post 20 open-ended questions you want to ask an expert in the field concerning your senior project. The focus of your questions should be on your answer to your EQ.

1. What different negotiation tactics have you used to negotiate a deal?
2. Which strategies have worked for you in the past? 
3. Are there other methods of negotiation?
4. How do you deal with clients that have very different interests?
5. Is lying ever present in a negotiation? When and Why?
6. Does leveraging actually work for the client you represent?
7. How well must you say you have to know your client to represent them accurately?
8. What are the circumstances in which a third party is included in a deal?
9. What other entities might be present throughout a negotiation?
10. How can a contract help negotiate a transaction?
11. What are key points to look at when reviewing a deal?
12. How can one identify phrases that might lead to litigation in the court room?
13. In your opinion what is the best way to negotiate a transaction?
14. How would one go about setting up a deal for more than two entities?
15. How can you push for a clause in the deal without being too aggressive?
16. What would be defined as too aggressive of a rebuttal or counter offer?
17. In instances where deals have been taken to court, what/how is that process like?
18. What can you do to stop one of your deals from reaching the court room?
19. How do you calculate the royalties a client will earn and present it to them in a way the will understand?
20. What is the process of closing a deal?
• What comes after?

Blog 17: Third Answer

1. My EQ is, what is the best way for a lawyer to negotiate a transaction between two parties?
2. The best way for a lawyer to negotiate a transaction between two parties is to Maximize Your Leverage
3. 3 details to support the answer 
•  Leverage makes getting what your client wants out of the deal much easier
• Leverage can be too aggressive and thus make you or your case look bad
• If the opposing counsel tries to attack your case, leverage is what makes you able to take the hit or drive them off.
4. The research source (s) to support your details and answer
• Talking to my mentor
• Sarwar, TF. "Leveraging International Law to Help Arsenic Mitigation Efforts in Bangladesh." University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law, 32.3 (2011): 843-846. 
5. I actually think my third answer is the weakest of my two answers and will require a large amount of research in order to be presented thoroughly

Updates

My mentor and I have been working closely together on a few newer deals that his associates have helped him sign. In addition, he has been helping me conduct some more research for my second and third answer as well as the rest of my topic.  My mentor has given me a few different databases to check out for research as well as answered any questions I had in full detail. Allowing me to have a greater amount of information to research and include in my work.

Other than that, not much has been going on. I plan to work closely with my mentor to get a finalized third answer to my essential question and include an interview in my support with that answer.

The view from my mentor's office

Working on a deal with my mentor

 

Blog 16: Answer 2

1.  My essential question is: what is the best way for a lawyer to negotiate a transaction between two parties?

2.  My first answer is: the best way for a lawyer to negotiate a transaction between two parties is to know you client's interests.

3.  My second answer is: the best way for a lawyer to negotiate a transaction between two parties is through using clear and concise language.

4.  List three reasons your answer is true with a real-world application for each.
My second answer is true because: it keeps the ideas clear just as a professor would in teaching a subject the most clear and concise wording can help everyone learn. It avoids confusion, obscured or ambiguous phrases and  things read out of context can be very misleading; for example, the car commercials that say anyone can buy a car and not put money down ETC. They don't mention all the prerequisites necessary to qualify for that deal, which in turn means not ANYONE can do it .Finally, it ensures everyone gets what they want. The only example I could come up with is buying a car, if the contract is clear and easy to read then it is easy to make sure you have received everything you asked for.

5.  Johnson, Lori D. "Effective Contract Drafting: Identifying the Building Blocks of Contracts." Nevada Lawyer, 21.10 (2013): 24-26. and Chesler, Susan M. "DRAFTING EFFECTIVE CONTRACTS: How to Revise, Edit, and Use Form Agreements." Business Law Today, 19.2 (2009): 35.
6.  Scott, Robert E, and George G Triantis. "Anticipating Litigation in Contract Design." The Yale Law Journal, 115.4 (2006): 835-856.
7. Not only is my second answer important in this field, but in all aspects of business as well. Clear and concise language can help avoid a lot of disputes .