We Launch Businesses
You are looking for a New York startup attorney. This small business law firm is focused on entrepreneurs and artists. In New York City, call us at 212.206-9104; on Long Island, call us at 631-254-0804 (Nassau and Suffolk County). Let Prywes, PC take care of your crowdfunding campaign, file your LLC or corporation, draft your operating agreements, shareholder agreements or joint venture agreements. Let us help you figure out the best language for Terms and Conditions, Employment Manuals, or Non-Disclosure Agreements.
We are honored to be featured in this week's "The Art of Lawyering" podcast, episode 75, hosted by the talented Seattle attorney Chris Small. Chris takes a deep dive approach to his interviews, and really explores what makes successful business endeavors tick.
Read MoreMost of my friends are amateur photographers now, thanks to smartphones and Instagram. And many of them love the hashtag #NoFilter, which always amuses me. Why? Because of the assumption that a photo shot with an iPhone has not already been heavily curated before the button was pushed by the photographer. As this past spring's blue/black vs. white/gold dress debate that raged on the Internet demonstrates, we don't each see color the same way, and a phone's camera does not faithfully replicate the colors we do see, filter or not.
Read MoreWhat do a Mets game, a Flying Rabbi, and a private part of Lenny Kravitz's anatomy have in common? Lawyers have had entirely too much latitude, without substantial consequence, in making legal claims on their behalf.
Read MoreWe are proud to be the latest subject of "The Law Practice Doctor," a podcast devoted to maximizing the efficiency and minimizing the overhead of law practices properly designed for the 21st century, hosted by the inimitable Sam Gaylord, a talented trial attorney in New Jersey. The half hour interview with Prywes Schwartz, PLLC attorney Michael Prywes covers a whole spectrum of topics; during this episode, Michael discusses starting a new firm, the benefit of co-working spaces, alternative billing, and avatar clients.
Read MoreWe are serious in our mirth. We just don't like the fact that our friends and family have negative feelings towards the word, "lawyer." We know there are some people out there who want their lawyer to be a plumber, but that's not the type of lawyer we want to be. It is our mission to be ongoing mentors and resources to our clients, for the long haul.
Read MoreToday is our birthday--August 20th is the day we formed Prywes Schwartz, PLLC with New York State--and we have learned a number of lessons over the past year. We, too, are a startup, and we modeled our law business after successful startups in other fields. Already, there have been plenty of failures and successes that seemed to come from nowhere, and we know that a year from now, we will be looking at our business in a whole new light.
Read MoreCreative people--entrepreneurs, artists, performers, innovators--so often feel themselves gagging when it comes down to signing contracts. And it's not surprising; what's creative or spontaneous or fun about contracts? Huh, absolutely nothing. But unlike war (Good God, y'all), contracts are good for a whole lot of reasons.
Read MoreYou have your own franchise now, it's going well, but inevitably you're going to have some issues as you expand and grow your brand, which, of course, is tied to the brand of the franchisor.
Read More"Only connect." E. M. Forster's directive from Howards End may be even more potent today than it was 100 years ago. Inundated by information overload, we may be quick to decide that the answer to life is to disconnect. This seems to be the trend of podcasters and pundits, business gurus and mindfulness "thought leaders." I personally have heard more than my fair share of "Don't waste your time on Facebook, sifting through the trivial stuff--friends' baby pictures, #tbt hashtags, and oversharing." I think this dismissive attitude is harmful, and ignores the enduring success of Facebook.
Read MoreA long long time ago, my wife Devra and I developed a recipe for the most decadent brownies anyone had ever tasted. Anyone who tasted them pleaded for a copy of the recipe. Of course, we started a side business, and guarded the recipe with our lives. Even without a formal understanding at the time of trade secrets laws, we knew instinctively that if the recipe were revealed, our business would be diminished.
Read MoreAnd we will be there! 13 years ago, I received my first ever film statue from the 2002 LIIFE as a producer, and now I will be there to speak as an attorney on two panels: Ask a Lawyer (with Marc Jacobson, P.C.) and How to Start Up an Independent Film Production Company (or Have Your Lawyer Do It).
Read MoreAmazon.com has a new way of paying creative writers publishing under its “kindle unlimited” label: by the page. Starting yesterday, July 1, “[u]nder the new payment method, you'll be paid for each page individual customers read of your book, the first time they read it.” This is an unusual metric, but one our very own law firm adopted at its inception, because, “pay per page” is an excellent approach to simplifying the concept of valuable consideration.
Read MoreJewelry design has become a popular entrepreneurial endeavor for artisans who have found a customer base hungry to display a love of creativity. Ironically, American law often seems to find many forms of jewelry design not particularly creative enough, as evidenced by a restrictive approach by the U.S. Copyright Office and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, as well as federal courts.
Read MoreWhen I was a kid, I was proud of my illustration skills. In the days before Photoshop, I believed art was verisimilitude. Then I went to art school, met painters and sculptors with far more talent than I, and discovered the importance of ideas in art. It would be many years before I would realize that voice and "personal brand"--as obnoxious a term as we've coined in this 21st century--matter as much in the world of artists as ideas and talent.
Read MoreLife Time is a model of customer service. And the setup they have for the kids is pretty incredible: a whole long row of computers, a tree house, an indoor basketball court, and a staff of well-trained child care professionals. Life Time Fitness doubles as a wonderful daycare facility, too, which is the real reason I joined. So, of course, I wanted to enroll my kids for a few weeks in their day camp. But I am not sure if I will. Because of one contract clause that makes my blood boil.
Read MoreMy mouth dropped. Two hundred Long Island middle school students didn't know what an "attorney" was. It was a career fair for the music honor society, and I was there to discuss entertainment and arts law. But they all knew what a "lawyer" was.
Read MoreI, like many of my clients, have always seen sports as the perfect opportunity to enjoy some downtime. The worlds of law and sports, at their best, honor the value of the motto, "Work hard, play hard." But, as an avid sports fan, I have become troubled by a phenomenon that has changed the nature of sports in our society.
Read MoreHow can a law firm devote itself both to entrepreneurs and artists? Aren't small businesses the realm of economics and strategy, while the performing and visual arts occupy the realm of spontaneity and inspiration?
Read MorePhotographer Arne Svenson had a Nikon super-telephoto lens. He liked to use that lens to take pictures of his New York City neighbors (including unclothed minors) in their apartments and turn the prints into an art exhibit almost as controversial as Mapplethorpe's in his heyday. And the First Department of New York's Appellate Division stated last week that Svenson's photography show broke no New York law and violated no regulation when he did just that.
Read MoreIn 1993, Vanna White won a California case against Samsung that many lawyers and judges found preposterous: she won more than $400,000 for a "right of publicity" claim in which she argued that a commercial that featured a robot with a blonde wig turning letters on a board was infringing her likeness.
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