Legal Authority

Legal Authority

My first "law" class here at the Art Institute of Las Vegas has been a huge learning experience for me. Now that the class is concluding, I have begun to reflect on exactly how much my eyes have been open to the world of copyrights, trademarks, and patents. Patents could serve as a type of pergatory for some patiently waiting for the light at the end of a dark tunnel, copyrights act as a shield to protect the owner, and trademarks are how people remember your name after you leave this earth. My final project got us off the betent path of spending hours reading pages, trying our best to memorize a dictionary disguised as a college textbook. In class every week we constently through questions at Mr.Pinto and he constantly replied that his only advice for us was to always "get a lawyer". So what do we do for our final project? We had to get a lawyer.

To be honest, I thought this was going to be the easiest final project I have ever had. In my head after hearing the project's specifics, I left class thinking that day "All I have to do is grab a lawyer and ask the dude 10 questions!?". This proved to be a bit tougher than I thought. My first thought was to ask my immediate family for help. My parents were no help at all. My dad freaked out when I asked him if he knew any lawyers replying "What do you need a lawyer for? Are you in some kind of trouble!?". My mother, bless her soul, gave me the number of her best friends daughter who just landed a job after completing law school; we used to play together as a childlen, but we didn't exactly get along to say the least. My saftey net I thought was my older brother. Why? Well first of all my older brother is the most charismatic person I have ever seen in my life and also has a larger then life personality. Unfortunatley, he also has huge mood swings and a matching temper that also comes along with his package. So needless to say this guy knew some lawyers. Keeping that in mind, when I called my older brother he shot me down, giving me any leads.

Hurt and dissatisfied with the help of my family, I reverted back to the list of Intellectual Property Lawyers, "Intellectual property lawyers are professionals who are trained and licensed to practice intellectual property law." Patents, Copyrights, and Trademarks, page, 56 in Las Vegas that we had to turn into Mr.Pinto for course credit. One by one I called every number on the page and got many recorded messages, the run-around from secretaries, and one hang up. Knowing I left many messages I decided I'd wait it out, let them come to me. Well, come to find out, that was a poor decision.

Time was now running out for me to complete my final project. The burden of finding a lawyer was now effecting me emotionally as I was doing laundry in a depressed and anxtious mood. I was going through some jeans at the bottom of my laundry basket and found the number of my "childhood friend" Ayonna Eagen. My mother had given me her number the very first day I set out on the quest to find a lawyer. I was desperate and worked up the nerve to finally call the little girl I remember fighting with much of my youth. Its funny to me that I have no problem calling and perstering complete strangers, but it's difficult to pick up the phone and call someone I have known all my life.

To my surprise she was actually very happy to hear from me. We spoke for awhile catching up with eachother's lives for a good twenty minutes and then I finally got into the real reason I called her after all these years. Although she does not practice Intellectual Property Law she was very knowledgable on the subject and gave me some fantastic answers. After hanging up the phone, I thought "Of course the girl that I grew up arguing with, has a career were she gets paid for doing that very thing." Thank you Ayonna M. Eagan, Esq.,  Attorney At Law in Washington State