Our summer benefit is almost upon us, so please join us for an evening of fun and friends on Thursday, June 14 from 6:00-8:00PM. We are also happy to announce that you can now purchase your tickets online.

We would like to extend a warm welcome to our 2012 Summer Associates Dani Johnson, Elsie Morales, Aly O'Desky, Erin Ross, and Courtney Stone. Welcome!  

 
We are, as always, grateful to our supporters and friends, and would like to take this opportunity to give our special thanks to: 

 

* Mark Litwak, Esq., for his presentation of "Risky Business: How to Finance and Distribute Your Independent Film"

* Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP for hosting VLA's panel on copyright termination

* Fractured Atlas for co-organizing VLA's new WebinArt series 

 

* The New York City Bar Association's Fashion Law Committee for hosting Elena M. Paul, Esq.'s presentation on fashion start-ups

 

* The Art & Law Residency's seminar leaders Dan Brooks, Esq., NYU Law Professor, Amy Adler, and Cornell Law School Professor, Eduardo Peñalver 

 

Finally, don't forget to volunteer for VLA today!  Check out our featured article on VLA volunteer opportunities on this newsletter, and all of the great reasons you should pitch in with our organization's work. 

 

VLA Summer Associate 2012 Profiles   

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Dani Johnson

Originally from Kalamazoo, Michigan, Dani Johnson graduated from Hope College with a double major in Creative Writing and Spanish. Following graduation, she pursued a Fulbright grant, teaching English in Alicante, Spain. Dani is now a rising third-year law student at Indiana University Maurer School of Law, where she focuses her studies on intellectual property law and serves as an Online Articles Editor for the Indiana Law Journal and a member of the Public Interest Law Foundation. Last summer, Dani worked in the appeals division of the City of Detroit Law Department.  Her strong interest in literary publishing led her to VLA this summer. Dani enjoys traveling and writing creative non-fiction and poetry.

Elsie Morales

Elsie Morales is a rising third year student at the University of Miami School of Law. As an undergraduate at New College of Florida, she majored in Humanities and wrote an honors thesis in art history. Following graduation, Elsie worked in non-profit marketing and communications. In law school, Elsie was awarded the HOPE Pro Bono Challenge Outstanding 1L Award for her volunteer work with the Miami-Dade Public Defender's Office, Southern Poverty Law Center, and Miami-Dade Legal Up! Program. Since then, she has interned with U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman, as well as LegalArt. Elsie is a member of the University of Miami Inter-American Law Review and the Moot Court Board, and has served as co-chair of the project development committee of the Public Interest Leadership Board. Outside of law school, Elsie enjoys salsa dancing, attending art exhibits and music concerts, biking, and cooking. She looks forward to her summer at VLA and taking advantage of New York City's unparalleled cultural offerings.

Aly O'Desky

Aly is pursuing a JD/MA in Art History at the Duke University School of Law.  She graduated magna cum laude from Wellesley College with a BA in English literature and History.  At Duke Law, Aly is  on the board of the Women's Law Student Association and is in the process of helping to found a Cultural Property Society.  Before law school, Aly worked as a legal assistant for an art lawyer, a research analyst for an electronic discovery management firm, and at Harpo Productions, Inc. (The Oprah Winfrey Show).  Aly grew up in Newport Beach, CA.  She practices Ashtanga yoga.

Erin Ross

Erin Ross is from Manalapan, New Jersey and holds a B.A. in Studio Art with honors from Brandeis University, where she also minored in Women and Gender Studies and Social Justice and Social Policy. Erin recently finished her second year of law school at Hofstra University School of Law where she serves as the Co-President of the Art Law and Culture Society and the Symposium Editor of the Family Court Review. She is the recipient of a Public Justice Fellowship for her work with VLA this summer. Last summer, Erin interned with the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office in the Crimes Against Children Bureau. She enjoys painting, watching movies, playing softball, and attending museums.  

Courtney Stone

Courtney Stone is a rising 2L at Harvard Law School. She is originally from Springfield, Illinois. As an undergraduate she studied contemporary art history and theory at the University of Chicago, with a minor in studio art. She also served as the Jeff Metcalf Fellow at the Art Institute of Chicago, where she assisted the contemporary art curator in the Department of Prints and Drawings. After graduation, Courtney worked as an intellectual property legal assistant at White & Case LLP in New York. As a law student, Courtney is a member of the Wasserstein Caspersen Student Center Art Advisory Board. She was also the star forward of her co-ed intramural basketball team this season (who had a losing season this year, but will indubitably be the Cinderella story of 2013). In her free time she enjoys writing art/movie/music/culture criticism, painting and playing her guitar. 

 

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VLA has seen an increase in demand for pro bono legal services, in-house consultations, legal clinics, and educational programming, and we expect 2013 to be even more demanding.

Would you like to support more VLA legal services and educational programming?

In 2012, your support will make possible:  

• More legal services to low-income artists
• More legal services to arts nonprofit organizations
• More educational programs
• More scholarship programs
• Maintaining lower fees for legal services and educational programming
• More discounts on legal books for artists 

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VLA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal service organization supported in part with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council on the Arts, a State Agency, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and through generous gifts from corporations, foundations and individuals. View a full list of foundation and government supporters here; to view a full list of law firm and corporate supporters, click here.

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Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts

1 East 53 Street, Sixth Floor | New York, NY 10022

P: 212.319.2787 | F: 212.752.6575

http://vlany.org 

http://askthelawyer.info 

 

 

 

 

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