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You may think I am alluding to designers, but you'd be wrong.

I am talking about lawyers, and the "client" in question appears to be your average designer who owns their own business.

A few weeks ago, one of Australia's best intellectual property lawyers gave a great seminar (in Melbourne) on the legal issues that designers typically face. I am talking about Trevor Choy's presentation Contracts and Other Legal Issues for Designers.

As usual, Trevor and his team got great feedback, for example:

"I must express my most sincere thanks to everyone involved with the Choy Lawyers Seminar for Designers. Never have I walked away from a seminar feeling so wonderfully informed and completely satisfied. The manner in which the evening was presented was fantastic in every respect and the legal experts who gave their time and expertise were abundantly informative, friendly and sincere - something which you should all be proud of!"

Here's what I think is the truly astounding thing - only 23 people went to this session!

The way I see it, there are about 1500 graphic design firms in Melbourne (source: Sensis Yellow Pages). And I can't believe all of them are completely on top of their legal issues, considering the number of emails I have received from 'indignant' designers going on about being ripped off by clients over the years. So there have to be more than 23 design firms in Melbourne that would benefit from understanding their legal rights more than they currently do, right?

So how come only 23 people went?!

Don't give me that crap about $70 being too expensive! You reckon it's alright to complain about clients not understanding the value of professional design, and then you have the hide to complain about a pittance to hear one of Australia's best legal eagles talk about stuff that means the difference between making a decent living and being a sucker?!

Have the courage to practice what you preach.

"a few years on now, and not much (if anything has changed. Set an example perhaps?"

"Agda's communications blow, and high-handed berating of people like this is indicative to me of Agda's attitude in general.

Perhaps people didn't see the value of sitting in a 'breakout session' where other people could ask 'any legal question they liked'. I would rather eat my own lips.

Moreover, perhaps AGDA could just make the information from the seminar available to members as a download?"

"Funny :-(... We are in the communication industry and yet it sounds like people did not hear about it. Oh-No! Time to.. 'do as we say and not do as we do' I agree with Sean and Meg - time for better communication."

"Andrew - love your gusto, and this is a great way to build awareness of the issue. I'm in favour of another night and I'll happily promote the event through "Connections""

"Having been dragged through the legal circus a couple of times, and thankfully winning on both occasions (morally, not financially because nobody wins!) I can recommend prevention is better than cure. We have been in business for over 15 years and regret that I could not attend Trevor's seminar due to other commitments. This seminar, is by far, the most important seminar business owners should attend if you wish to avoid litigation."

"I won't speak for Choy Lawyers, but perhaps a little cynicism towards the legal profession is to be expected. A couple of years back, our firm spent a good deal of moeny on a legal firm who specialised in intellectual property, asking them to check out a contract that a client insisted we sign if we wanted to avoid legal action. We were unwilling to sign as some of the more obscure conditions of the contract seemed suspiciously contrary to ethical practice. After studious consultation, the legal firm found little fault with the document, and passed us reams of legal documentation pertaining to copyright law, charging us a good deal of money for their efforts in finding this reading material. Ironically, the material was precisely the documentation we had previously downloaded from the Australian Copyright site and which told us nothing we didn't already know, plus a good deal the legal firm DIDN'T know. This information made it quite clear that the contract was bogus, hence why we hired the lawyers in the first place. We ended up challenging the client ourselves and called their bluff.

Don't come down hard on designers. Some of us know more than the lawyers."

"Oh, get off your high horse. It's a bad time of year to be having seminars. You drive past design studios late at night on your way home from work and they are all burning the mid-night hour."

"I attended the seminar that Trevor Choy presented and I was also surprised by how few people attended the seminar. I thought the fee was very reasonable and the information received very worthwhile. It was also interesting to hear from other designers and how they tackle various problems and it's good to know that others are experiencing the same challenges of being a small studio. The biggest challenge is educating clients about the legal issues and the value of design and this is an ongoing process."

"eh-hum - Mr Andrew - don't give us the heavies for not turning up and going on about how more studios should have without offering us the ability to attend another session - I frankly didn't know about it - so, gear up another session and count me as your 24th attendeee"

"So when is the Sydney seminar?"

"I would have loved to have attended this seminar.... if I had known about it!

Maybe a designer could have created an e-brochure or invite for these guys sent it to a targeted list of designers to drum up interest...?

;)"

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andrew@lam-po-tangcom