Adult Indusrty Lawyer

[trey]

Does anyone have a website address for an adult industry ( porn ) attorney preferable on the east coast but not total necessary. Thanks

[gaybucks_chip]

I think I saw Chad Belville say he isn't taking new clients, but he's probably the most bullshit-free adult specialist attorney you'll find, and he knows pretty much all the other attorneys worth knowing, so you might PM him here (chadknowslaw) and see who he recommends.

There's Larry Walters who is in Florida, and I think Rob Apgood is on the east coast, and both are knowledgeable and highly regarded, but I haven't personally worked with either.

[EurocremeUSA]

We have really enjoyed working with Dan Pepper. He deals with adult online issues. His firm is the Pepper Law Group. Just google him for his web site.

[Rich]

i spoke with mr walters a few weeks ago and got a creepy feeling about him like he just wanted to take my money and not do much stuff for me

[gaybucks_chip]

i spoke with mr walters a few weeks ago and got a creepy feeling about him like he just wanted to take my money and not do much stuff for me

I've never personally talked to him, but you're far from the first person to say that.

I was also personally offended by the idea that he was trying to get $400 for a license to an incredibly janky 5 line PHP script combined with some boilerplate legal text which he was selling as a "birth date verifier" and which a number of other attorneys said was crap.

[Lee]

Im also not a big fan of Larry ever since i first heard of him he always seem to be attached with some of the 'seedier' aspects of online law and like Chip mentioned, he really milked his patent on that 5 line peice of code for 'age verification' when it was all the rage a few years back.

I am also of the understanding that right now he is trying to patent the concept behind an automated DMCA service also like the one im currently putting together, despite the fact that automated services are nothing new.

There are, IMHO much better industry attorneys you can go to before having anything to do with Larry Walters whom many dislike because of his dubious seeming associations and business practices aimed at what appears like nothing more than bilking every last dollar he can out of his 'clients'.

Regards,

Lee

[gaybucks_chip]

On the positive side, I have heard some good things about Eric Bernstein, but I don't have contact info for him.

I also confirmed with Chad that he's not taking new clients.

[gaybucks_chip]

I am also of the understanding that right now he is trying to patent the concept behind an automated DMCA service also like the one im currently putting together, despite the fact that automated services are nothing new.

If that's really the case, it's appalling, not a whole lot better than the patent trolls like Acacia.

[LAJ]

Does anyone have a website address for an adult industry ( porn ) attorney preferable on the east coast but not total necessary. Thanks

Hi Trey, please feel free to contact me at jay at ynot dot com. I handle marketing for industry attorney Eric Bernstein. He's based in NJ and has represented adult clients across the US and Canada for nearly 10 years in his over 25 years of practice.

[basschick]

i had a very different reaction to larry walters. on the phone i found him knowledgeable, articulate and extremely well-informed on stuff relating to adult. i appreciated that he was very willing to explain the most cautious approach as well as other approaches to my questions. he does phone consultations and doesn't try and rush off the phone but spends the entire time, and answered a few questions by email after without additional charge.

also there's J. D Obenberger at http://www.xxxlaw.net/ (he also does phone consults) and i like A.J. Comparetto, as well - his contact info here http://adultfilmmaking.com/contact.html

[gaybucks_chip]

Is JD doing phone consults now? The last time we contacted him, he was only doing a deal where you paid a $4500 annual fee for unlimited 2257 consults and I think it included a 2 hour initial consult and review of your sites... if he's doing straight hourly consults now, that would be an excellent choice.

[basschick]

probably not, but the original poster didn't ask for that.

btw, around 3 1/2 years ago jd was doing phone consults, but as i recall he wanted paypal payment rather than credit card, which i wasn't thrilled with.

Is JD doing phone consults now? The last time we contacted him, he was only doing a deal where you paid a $4500 annual fee for unlimited 2257 consults and I think it included a 2 hour initial consult and review of your sites... if he's doing straight hourly consults now, that would be an excellent choice.

[msm]

Thanks for all these posts because I too may be looking for a lawyer. Interesting comments about Larry Walters... he was someone I considered but now I don't know, although I respect Basschicks opinion very much.

On a similar topic, I don't suppose any of you who use lawyers can give some more insight into their payment terms. What is normal, to pay a lawyer by the hour or by the task, for example, if you want a Terms of Use agreement or a model release form? And what are some average rates I can expect to pay?

[gaybucks_chip]

I think every attorney does it differently. Some want a retainer (basically a deposit they bill against.) Others charge a flat per-year fee for certain basic services and bill hourly for others. And others just bill you each month for their services.

Most attorneys will give you a flat rate for some services, like development of agreements, terms of service, review of legal agreements, etc. Depending on your specific needs and complexity, you could probably get a Terms of Use agreement in done several hours, since most experienced attorneys will have boilerplate they can modify. If it's a customized partnership agreement or something, expect it to take longer.

From my experience, an experienced adult industry attorney seems to be in the $200-400 per hour range. Price is not necessarily correlated with quality.

[chadknowslaw]

Any lawyer, whether adult industry or not, should provide the initial consultation at no charge. This does NOT necessarily mean talking to you on the phone! If you are an unknown entity to me I do not know if you are worth taking up phone time for! A free consult can very easily take place by email. I required new clients to contact me by email and rarely take phone calls. Most issues can be dealt with by email and many were simple enough that I answered all the questions without billing for my time. If someone wants to tie me up for 25 minutes on the phone during my peak busy time, then expect a bill. Usually the same question can be answered by email at a slow period and I don't charge for those. Not many lawyers work like I do ~

$200 - $400 an hour is the range you should expect to pay. You will pay more for a lawyer located in Los Angeles or New York than other places, all other things like experience level being equal and for most internet issues you do not need a lawyer geographically close to you. If you don't need a lawyer who works in LA, why pay extra?

Each lawyer mentioned in this thread has been serving adult clients for a long time and longevity does count for something. I have worked closely with both Apgood and Bernstein and I can recommend their services. Neither of those 2 are in the "billing machine" practice.

I hope you find what you are looking for!