#12: How to find a good intellectual property lawyer on a budget

Finding an intellectual property (IP) lawyer isn’t the easiest thing in the world to do.

The term “intellectual property” isn’t all that familiar to people, and even if you know someone who knows a lawyer, the likelihood of that person being an IP lawyer is slim (it is one of the smaller practice areas).

In addition, IP lawyers generally aren’t like some of the personal injury lawyers with 999-9999 phone numbers, rap ads on the radio, or TV commercials like this:

I’ve literally never seen a commercial for an IP lawyer at all (and I am one!), let alone one like the Texas Law Hawk.

Because you’ll probably never randomly come across an ad or commercial for an IP lawyer, it can be hard to know where to start to find one.

Today’s #ThursdayThoughts question comes from a person who wants to know how to find an IP lawyer on a budget.

This question is particularly complex because IP, while a smaller field, is one of the most expensive areas of law for clients. Lawyer’s fees for handling trademark or patent applications are typically in the thousands of dollars by the time it’s all said and done.

See below for my advice on how to find an IP lawyer when you don’t have a lot of money.

To summarize, my suggestions are to:

(1) search for law school legal clinics in your area — they provide inexpensive or free legal services on a range of topics, sometimes including IP law (see the show notes for a link to those);

(2) look to local/city/regional/state bar associations for help; and

(3) find a lawyer you look and are confident with, because saving money could harm you if the lawyer isn’t right for your issue.

Questions & Action: Find your IP lawyer

After you’ve had a chance to watch the video, I’d love to hear from you in the comments section!

Please answer the questions relevant to your current situation:

If it’s time to hire an IP lawyer, have you searched for a law school clinic in your area?
Have you reached out to your city, state, or region’s bar association (professional organizations for lawyers)?
Do you have a prepared list of 2-5 questions for any lawyer you interview? If not, try writing down your most pressing questions.
Have you done any research to determine how much the kind of lawyer you need typically costs?
Is there anyone you can ask for a referral to an IP lawyer?

Please give as much information as you can in response to these questions. I’d be happy to share more tools and resources that help you get what you want. Check out the show notes at the end of this page for a few resources from this episode.

Most importantly, I know the other folks reading this can learn from your experiences! We are all in this together.

Finally, I always say that I’m on a mission to help people build the brands, businesses and lives that they love. We can learn from each other on this journey, particularly when we have accountability partners. This is why I am building a whole nation of side-hustlers, creatives and business owners who keep each other––and me––accountable.

You can join my social network–which I affectionately call the LVRG nation–online and via app. Check us out at programs.shontavia.com or via the Mighty Networks App.

To get the app:

First, download the Mighty Network app by clicking here. Second, once it downloads, click “Find a Mighty Network” and search for Shontavia Johnson. You’ll find content there that I may not share elsewhere.

Thank you so much for joining me on this roller coaster of an experience.

I am eternally grateful that I get to do this work with wonderful people like you each day.

Let’s make it happen,