With the intent of providing intellectual property counsel, identification of IP assets, the procurement of all those assets, and the protection and enforcement of the same, Jessie Pellant, founded StudioIP in 2017. Jessie saw a need for a different type of firm, one that focused on client needs, provides a humanistic approach, with innovative outside-the-box solutions challenging the misgivings of the traditional firm with too much red tape and boundaries and not enough flexibility for the attorneys and the clients.
She also thinks attorneys need to be given a different path that celebrates their ability to work full time or part-time- allowing them to craft their work-life balance, trusting them to work when they are able and strategize and create opportunities for their clients. StudioIP focuses on being a value add to its clients and creating opportunities and synergies for them to help facilitate the best business possible with minimal risk and most reward. It is a variant approach, as many lawyers and clients alike see themselves as a Band-Aid there to fix problems of the clients, but StudioIP focuses on avoidance of the problems and innovative and creative solutions and strategies to achieve that end goal.
Solving Clients’ Legal Issues
StudioIP provides intellectual property counsel, identification of IP assets, procurement, protection, and enforcement of assets. This includes trademark, copyright, and patent prosecution, litigation and enforcement strategy, identification of trade secrets, and overall IP strategy based on counterfeits, infringement, mergers, and acquisitions, venture capital investment, etc. The firm also now offers creative agency services, to build and cultivate cult brands consisting of brand names and graphic design creation, website and app development, and marketing campaigns to promote and sell the brand.
Currently, the firm is serving clients from various sectors like; eCommerce, commercial products, construction, healthcare, automotive industry, sports, tech, and others.
The organization’s human-centric approach, resting on Jessie’s theatrical background is innovative, creative, and has a variance in its approach to solving legal problems. However, that is not StudioIP’s biggest asset, the firm’s biggest asset now is its creative agency which allows it to facilitate the creation of a legally sound and protectable powerhouse brand.
Using Technology for Seamless Solutions
As a law firm, StudioIP is always open to improvements in efficiency and new tech tools that allow its clients to save time and money while minimizing the risk at the same time. For instance, the firm uses a software docketing program that uses an algorithm to pull deadlines directly from the USPTO for trademark filings rather than leaving that docketing work to a fallible human being to calendar. Also creating visibility into individual employees’ daily projects and workload and knowing the to-do list and the tasks involved and where it is on that path is helpful and there are wonderful tools out there to create those system hacks.
The Constantly Evolving Market and Future Roadmap
Jessie believes clients nowadays need much faster and nimble counsel in a faster eCommerce-based industry, where infringement is much faster and more prevalent. So, they need more counsel and more innovative options. The global market is also presenting more problems for clients as the need for protection of their IP needs to be global as well. Associates need more work-life balance and the ability to be creative in their counsel to thrive in their careers and position.
When it comes to the future, StudioIP hopes to continue expanding its creative agency and the law firm and its offerings trying to streamline the branding process for its clients. StudioIP’s newest offering is a legal studio offering marrying the use of brand storytelling to case presentation in the courtroom to provide its clients with the highest likelihood of success possible. The elements necessary to gain consumer allegiance are in line with those elements necessary to convince and reach the trier of fact audience.
Challenges for Young Lawyers
According to Jessie, lawyers starting their careers need to be given responsibility to complete tasks and understand how the law works, and get exposure to clients. There is a juxtaposition with traditional law firms based on the compensation and political structure of most traditional firms which require originating attorneys to have control of the client. There is also a challenge of meeting the hourly expectations of law firms to generate billable hour worthy work while keeping the hours low so the clients are not charged as much for the work. Those hourly requirements are untenable if one wishes to have a balanced lifestyle or raise a family.