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University of California, Hastings College of Law, San Francisco, CA
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA
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With a love for writing, Gia excelled in her legal research and writing classes, earning the award for “Best Appellate Brief” in the Spring. This year, she will serve as President of the Hastings Association for Communications, Sports, and Entertainment Law organization, as well as competing on Hastings’ Moot Court Team.
Gia has held a variety of internships in the entertainment industry and aspires to practice intellectual property in the field after she graduates.
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With a love for writing, Gia excelled in her legal research and writing classes, earning the award for “Best Appellate Brief” in the Spring. This year, she will serve as President of the Hastings Association for Communications, Sports, and Entertainment Law organization, as well as competing on Hastings’ Moot Court Team.
Gia has held a variety of internships in the entertainment industry and aspires to practice intellectual property in the field after she graduates.
This being my first week, I dove right into being assigned work. I have had the opportunity to research various topics relating to intellectual property—specifically, trademarks—and wrote articles or “guides” relating to what I learned. Using what I learned, I was then given my first true test: helping a religious organization in Texas with their trademark application struggles.
First, I had to learn about the different types of applications and figure out the status of their pending application in Texas. As it would turn out, the application had been rejected months ago on the grounds that there was likelihood of confusion between their mark and another business’ in a different state. I was tasked with strategizing what the next steps were and how we plan on resolving the issue—especially because the organization was being threatened with fines and potential legal action by their landlord should they fail to secure a trademark for their business logo.
This assignment has been stressful, as I feel responsible for the organization’s ability to keep afloat—however, Megan and James have been extremely helpful and patient with me as I adjust to the learning curve. I am determined to make sure they get some form of justice and that drive has motivated me to want to do the best work possible. Ultimately, I am excited by the opportunity to work directly on a case and be delegated such a level of responsibility on my first week of working at Lloyd & Mousilli.
Having grown up with my father practicing commercial and transactional law, I have always wanted to get hands-on experience as to the type of contractual work he does. When Feras presented me with the opportunity to work on a licensing agreement, I was excited to volunteer my assistance.
To my surprise, I was asked to draft a template licensing agreement by myself, with the expectation that it would be delivered directly to one of the firm’s clients. Given the nature of this assignment, and it being my first time doing anything of such sorts, I essentially spent the entire week dedicated to completing the template licensing agreement for Feras, as described in detail below.
I was somewhat thrown into the “deep end” with this task, as I had never written a formal legal agreement. Feras directed me to create a template using one of the client’s previously finalized licensing agreements and resources I could find online and then integrate the client’s most recent requests or modifications into the agreement. I started by checking Westlaw to find a licensing agreement template that I could use as a reference to turn the final agreement that I had access to into a licensor-friendly, boilerplate template. Then, I scanned through the agreement and deleted any blatantly obvious client-specific terms and licensee-friendly language, as our client was the licensor. Once I took these initial steps, I moved onto the challenging part: figuring out what each clause meant and how to include the client’s additional specifications into the agreement.
I was given an email from the client listing bullet points as to the changes they wanted to make to the previously used licensing agreement, but it was limited in its context. I used the short descriptions I was provided to come up with different legal terms I could look up and find the appropriate clause for. It took me a while to do this, as I was learning while writing, and the subject matter was in regard to software technology, to which I have limited knowledge of. I went section by section, rewriting the majority of clauses to reflect the changes to be made. Each time I went over a section I felt more confident about the subject matter and began to feel comfortable about different clauses relating to things like indemnification or insurance. The most challenging part, however, was adding completely new sections to include criteria that didn’t fit into any particular section of the existing agreement, since I had to rely on what I thought was the proper provision to include and what to include in it.
When I finally finished the agreement, I felt proud of the work I had produced—not because it was “perfect,” but because I had managed to do it at all. Ultimately, this was the single best learning experience I have had since coming to law school because it was the first time I felt like a lawyer, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to do this assignment.
This week I learned that when it comes to contractual matters, the internet is a great place to find resources and sample agreement templates for your use that will save you time, especially when “time is money.” My advice is to show interest and take initiative in helping with a particular case or client workload because the firm is here to provide you with a valuable learning experience—what you take away from the clerkship is what you put into it, and I look forward to gaining more substantive legal experience.
This week was a “blur” in two respects. Throughout the week, I struggled to find a balance between my work as a research assistant and at the firm while frantically looking for a new place to lease next month—and yet, though I was stressed, I was riding on a “high” after getting back my spring semester grades. It was hard to stay particularly focused on anything as my mind kept wanting to wander elsewhere and I was running on very little sleep. Nonetheless, it was another week of valuable learning lessons.
Last week I completed the licensing agreement template I was assigned to work on. This week, I received feedback from the client and revised the agreement accordingly. It was exciting to feel like I was dealing with “my own” clients and continuing the work I had started. I was sufficiently surprised to see that they made only one edit to the entire agreement. For this being my first time writing something like this, it made me slightly wary by the lack of feedback, but definitely gave me a sense of pride and accomplishment. My experience with transactional work has been my favorite thus far, and I hope to work on more contractual matters in the future.
About a week or so ago, Megan gave me the task of writing an article on publishing agreements, and what content creators should know before entering into a contract with a publisher. After completing the licensing agreement, I felt comfortable and familiar with a lot of the research I had compiled, as the two are closely related. The subject matter was interesting and in-line with the work I would like to do in the future.
My “big” task of the week was researching and preparing a memo on whether or not flower and balloon arrangements are copyrightable. The question arose from a client in the business of creating floral arrangements that feature a large customized balloon as a centerpiece who sought a copyright for her work. Though the task seemed easy, the answer was extremely difficult to find, as there is nearly no case law available that could provide me with an answer. Through my initial research, I felt that the arrangements were not copyrightable which led to the creation of the memo—with the expectation that I would submit it to Feras for his consideration. As my research progressed, the answer became less and less clear, and I grew frustrated with my writing. Anything I did find dated back to decades ago or was merely the opinion of other attorneys. Despite the task being so difficult, I liked being able to exercise what I have learned in legal research and writing in a professional setting. I ultimately ended up with a memo I liked enough to submit, though I remain unsold on which “side” is correct.
As previously mentioned, this week was particularly challenging for me as I did not get much sleep, affecting my ability to perform at the standard I would have liked. I did not want to tell anyone because I did not want to create an excuse for myself or draw unwanted attention to my performance. Eventually, when I did tell Megan about my sleeping troubles, I was met with compassion and understanding and I was really glad I told her. My advice is always be honest with yourself and do not be afraid to let the firm know if there is something going on that is affecting you or your health, because they will be understanding. But more importantly, always make sure to take care of yourself and listen to your body—your work performance depends on it.
With the mask mandate lifted, the germs were out to play and I found myself getting sick as a result. Granted, it probably did not help that I did not get enough sleep last week, but having not been sick in over a year it definitely came as somewhat of a surprise. My performance was definitely slower and less efficient as my health did not want to cooperate with my cognitive abilities. Nonetheless, I managed to get involved in a few different tasks, the most impactful described below.
I was asked to strategize and research a response to a cease and desist letter on behalf of one of our clients. The clients received notice of their alleged trademark and copyright infringement and it was my job to research what sort of defenses may be available to them. I ended up settling on the defense of parody under the fair use doctrine as the best option and wrote a memo on the basics of the defense, citing case law I had found. The subject matter was interesting and I have found it easy to engage with, and I like that it involves playing a game of “chess” with intellectual property.After writing the memo, I worked with James, Megan, and Feras to think of ways to advise the client on taking preventative measures to avoid further allegations of infringement. The work for this client is definitely an uphill battle, but arguably “winnable” if the right actions are taken.
Feras reached out to ask me to create a deck for him to use in a lecture he was giving the following morning. I was given two articles to work with and told to reach out to Hannah to get my hands on a sample presentation—and that was it. I found this to be the most daunting task I had this week, as I really did not want to disappoint Feras with something of poor quality. My unfamiliarity with the lecture material made it challenging to know what was important enough to include on the slides or what the general theme of the lecture was. When I reached out to Hannah, she provided me with helpful advice, offered herself as a resource, and gave me some motivational words of encouragement—all of which made me feel much better and I really appreciated it. I ended up hitting a point where I felt lost and told Feras I was struggling. He was very understanding and encouraged me to just do my best and submit whatever it was I had prepared by a certain hour. As it turned out, the end product was not as bad as I had thought it would be, and I received positive feedback from Feras after giving it to him. It was definitely a valuable “skill” to have learned if I am asked to create any other decks in the future.
Working at Lloyd & Mousilli is like being part of a family—your efforts are appreciated and you are cared for. This week, like last, taught me a lot about reaching out to let others know if I am struggling with my work or not feeling my best. My advice is to be honest with your co-workers and never be afraid to reach out if you need help with anything. The firm is beyond understanding and compassionate, and it made me feel at ease about my performance and place in the firm.
I designated this week as my “bounce back” week in exchange for my performance the last two weeks. We kicked off with the annual “all hands” meeting with everyone from the firm, and I had the opportunity to see people I had never met with or spoken to before. I loved getting to learn about the firm’s success and growth over the past year, especially seeing bullet points on the different clients I have been working with.
This week I did some more work for the client accused of trademark and copyright infringement and had the opportunity to sit in on a meeting with them to discuss our strategy moving forward. James and I worked together on writing an executive summary for Feras to provide to the client, and use, in the meeting. Based on how the meeting went, our executive summary failed to meet the standards it should have in order to properly convey the client’s problem and the firm’s recommendations. However, since this was my first executive summary, it was a learning experience on what should and should not be included in one for future reference. Aside from the summary, in the meeting the client seemed to be focused on one particular part of the problem rather than the bigger picture implications the matter could have on their business. It was my first time sitting in on a client meeting so it was interesting to see how it was conducted and to observe what the client’s primary concerns were.
One of the highlights of my week was learning that the pro-bono work I completed for the religious organization in Texas in my first week at the firm had paid off: we succeeded in getting them a time extension with city ordinances on getting their sign trademarked. It was rewarding to see that my efforts made an impact, however, the extension was the first piece of the puzzle. Because our client’s previous federal application was denied on confusion of likeness, we need to be able to refile without getting rejected again. James and Megan suggested that we try to obtain a trademark consent agreement with the other business, to which I wrote an article on the benefits of doing so. Our plan is to file the trademark, and then go about getting a consent agreement in place so that we do not waste time waiting to get the agreement prior to filing. Excited to see how this plays out.
Hard work always pays off—the time and energy you put into assignments can make or break the success of your work.
Going into this week, I expected that my time would be heavily concerned with one particular client. It turned out to be less intensive than I had thought, but given the nature and urgency of what needed to be done, I essentially spent the entire week dedicated to completing a response to the Cease & Desist notice our clients had received.
Off the bat, this work felt daunting. It wasn’t so much the difficulty of the task itself (i.e., writing the response), but rather the insecurities I had with our position on the matter—especially with the looming likelihood of a lawsuit being filed against us. Our client is in a somewhat “losing” predicament as the “evidence” stacked against them was pretty solid. Before I could really get into the heart of the work, I took a day to familiarize myself with the law I was attempting to dispute. Unfortunately, what I researched didn’t exactly make me feel any better.
At this point, the biggest challenge for me was getting over the writer's block created by my reservations: I essentially had to convince myself there was an effective argument I could make. It wasn’t until the second day that I felt like I could see the pieces coming together, or at least that there was a glimmer of hope that my argument would be logical. By the time I started diving into case law, I felt even more confident, as I could pick and choose the language in the various rulings to apply to the client’s situation. The letter was fairly repetitive, but I felt proud of a few points that I had the luxury of exercising some creativity with. In this sense, it was almost fun to go about thinking of how to craft the response in our favor, even if the arguments would end up being futile. I think once I came to balance my awareness of the reality of our client’s situation and understanding that a “battle” is only as good as I make it, it became much easier to go about this assignment.
Just because something feels like a lost cause, does not necessarily mean it is. As a lawyer, you will not always have faith in your client. However, when it comes to representing them, it is important to put their best interests first and do everything in your power to do the best job possible because that’s what you’ve been hired to do. So as much as I felt an overwhelming sense of hesitation and defeat, that wasn’t the proper mentality to have when going about my work. Through this, I received a valuable lesson this week in regards to the reality of practicing law and the importance that my role as a lawyer plays in it.
This week I had the pleasure of extending my services to the Litigation practice, giving me the opportunity to work with Beth and Lema. Based on my exposure, I have the utmost respect for how much work the two of them balance — each client comes with its own set of important, demanding, time-sensitive matters. Basically, litigation is intense. However, unlike other practices, it creates a platform where creative thinking meets the law, and I enjoyed getting to exercise that portion of my skillset.
The first “litigation” task wasn’t quite yet litigation, rather it was getting properly organized in preparation for it. Beth asked me to decipher and create an itemized list of evidence we had compiled via documents provided by the client — and let me say, I’m glad I was the one to do this. The time it took for me to comb over everything made me think about how Beth organizing this herself would have taken time away from more pressing, substantive matters. Since I’m a fan of organization and formatting (and the firm knows it), I found the task to be enjoyable and am now invested in continuing to work on with this client.
Once again, I was thrown into the “deep end” with this particular assignment. Lema asked me to draft discovery requests for a client in the midst of litigation. I was given the case name, access to its file, and that was about it. Considering I had never done this sort of work before, it was fairly daunting. Lucky for me, per usual, Hannah came in clutch by providing me with a sample to guide my formatting and requests. Going off of this, I began reading through the trail of complaints, answers, and motions to start getting an idea of what information I needed to obtain from the defendant. I met with Lema to make sure I fully understood what I was doing and learned of the art of not asking too broad of questions, preserving the number of interrogatories, and avoiding objectionable requests. The more time I put into it, the easier it became to sit down and write the interrogatories, requests for production, and requests for admissions. I found that this particular case called for some seemingly repetitive questions or requests — however, the “art” is in knowing how one word can make all the difference in the call of the request. I can only hope that I was on the “right track” with my ideas, and I look forward to going through and editing my work product with Lema.
As the saying goes, “time is money” — and nowhere is that more accurate than in the legal profession. This week I recognized the value of time when it comes to client facing matters, the restraints that need to be in place to avoid a client’s abuse of attorney time, and the balance that attorneys need to find between clients, as well as managing the time spent on administrative tasks. “Billing” is a frequent topic of discussion, and its tedious nature explains the importance of time and money: clients want to understand what it is they’re paying you for and you want to know that your time is being paid for. My advice is to become familiar with documenting the time you spend on client-facing work — because sooner or later, you’ll be expected to manage your time with the expectation that every minute comes with a price.
My work this week was essentially picking up where I left off last week with predominantly litigation work. The highlight of my week was an introductory meeting between my father, Feras, and Megan to discuss an upcoming clerk-competition of sorts—nothing quite like having your dad coming to work with you. Aside from that, this week was mostly a blur, with a bunch of small side tasks predominantly taking up my time. Of those tasks, the following were the most notable.
Regarding the client I have been assisting Beth with, I had the pleasure of taking my first “solo” client call this week! I wasn’t expecting to be the “lead” on the call until like five minutes prior, but I found the experience to be very natural on the whole. I enjoyed being able to interact with someone I’m doing work for as it helps make things more “real.” Megan was on the call (in case things went south) but she didn’t interject at any point which gave me more confidence in my ability to speak with our client. I appreciated having this experience because it will be an inevitable part of my legal practice and it’s nice to have gotten my first out of the way while still in school.
In preparation for an anticipated lawsuit, I was asked to research the opposing attorney’s previous litigation experience in cases similar to our’s. My job was to comb over the cases - nearly 140 - and pull out “samples” we could look over to identify any patterns or arguments he may use against us. Unfortunately, most of the older cases didn’t have an opinion or complaint on record on Westlaw—and even those that were accessible never made it to trial. That said, with what we had, it will be beneficial to know his approach and thought process in similar situations, as well as being familiarized with the work he’s done.
My advice of the week is to practice getting comfortable (if you’re not already) speaking on a professional level with others so you can prepare for dealing with clients someday. So much of what you will deal with at a firm is working with the clients themselves rather than simply the completion of their requested work.
The time has come for my last week with Lloyd & Mousilli. I can wholeheartedly say that I’m sad to go, and not just because I have to face the reality of school starting. This summer revived my excitement to become a lawyer and reaffirmed my desire to practice transactional, corporate, and intellectual property law—or some combination of any of those fields. So with the end of an era, I needed to tie up some loose ends and finish up some last assignments.
With this task, we took a little trip down memory lane and revisited the pro-bono trademark work I had begun earlier this summer. Phase two of our plan was to draft a letter requesting a trademark consent agreement between our client and another business. I took a little time looking over a previous request and consent agreement before using it as a template to create my own. The next step is figuring out who to send it to.
Feras had asked me to write a memo for one of our clients regarding the legality of their business plan for advertising on social media platforms. From the beginning of this matter, I had a hard time understanding what it is we could do for this client as there did not appear to be a legal issue involved. No less, I went ahead and conducted the research necessary to complete the memo, learning a lot about gaming and gambling laws in the U.S. (which was pretty interesting). As I got deeper into the process, there were some legal elements that could be addressed, though I view none of them as
The long-awaited lawsuit for one of our ongoing matters finally came around—it even managed to get some special media attention. Because of that attention, we needed to put out a statement of our own to do a little public relations strategy. It was interesting to take a stab at writing something like this, especially since I have never done anything in the “PR” field. The amount of publicity our case was getting was insane, and it was really cool to see how much the media cared about what was happening in the IP world.
Keep track of your assignments and savor everything you have the opportunity to do. I had started the summer by doing this but gradually stopped keeping track as the weeks went on and it worked against me — especially as things came to an end. Take on as much work as interests you and take advantage of the opportunities you have to learn because it is the most valuable thing you can take away from your experience.
I want to thank the firm for providing me with the best work experience I have ever had. I learned so much and had the opportunity to work on matters beyond my wildest expectations. I look forward to having the chance to work with everyone again sometime in the future.