I am a lawyer who was packaged from ‘go’ to fit into the corporate system – until things changed.
“I am a lawyer who was packaged from ‘go’ to fit into the corporate system – until things changed.” That is what Ron Coleman, Of Counsel to the Dhillon Law Group shared with me during his headshot session.
“I went to Princeton and Northwestern University. I was interested in antitrust lawsuits because of my interest in economics and governments. After finishing law school, I had lots of opportunities to get experience in different areas of law, even after I concluded that I was going to be a litigator. After sampling a wide range of litigation work, I thought I found a home in trademark management law.
After I had been out for about ten years, I started writing a blog called Likelihood of Confusion, which is a key concept in trademark law. It became one of the leading blogs in the United States on that area of law. Because of my reputation as a trademark litigator and a lawyer who was comfortable operating outside the usual lanes, I got a call from an Asian-American music group called the Slants, whose application to register their band name as a trademark was rejected by the United States Patent and Trademark Office because their name was considered a “derogatory” term. The group, however, was using the slur to “reappropriate” it – to take it on as a point of pride. The thing was that at the same time, they were allowing other slurs to be registered under a reappropriation rationale, so the USPTO seemed to have a political agenda in rejecting this one. The band did not have much money, so I agreed to take on the case pro bono Público.
Ultimately, our appeal of the USPTO’s decision went all the way to the United States Supreme Court, and we won. The Slants were able to register the name because, the Supreme Court held, the statute prohibiting registration of “disparaging” trademarks was unconstitutional under the First Amendment, which prohibits the government from discriminating based on the content of someone’s speech. As it turns out, our case was very tightly linked with the Washington Redskins case, which was working its way through the courts at the same time. And by winning in the Supreme Court, we saved the Redskins from an unconstitutional law that would have deprived them of their team nickname – but not from the public, because eventually it just became commercially and socially unacceptable for a team to have a name like “Redskins.” And, in fact, this was our point all along: That the market, and society, should dictate these choices, not the government.
After the success of the Slants appeal, I moved my practice more into free speech, civil rights and political activism, doing the work I always wanted to do. Of course, I still do trademark and copyright litigation and other commercial cases, which I do like, as well as defamation work. When I get a case, and I am confident. I tell it like it is, whether it is to an adversary, the court or a jury. I am also much more involved on social media than ever before, even though my blog is retired. I have over a quarter of a million followers on Twitter (now X) and I combine that form of commentary, education and marketing to enhance my law practice.
One thing that has changed profoundly since the time I first started in the 1990’s is that, because of the digital revolution, people are much more accountable for every utterance. They risk losing their jobs and social connections if they use an incorrect word, and sometimes I help people with the legal aspects of rebuilding their networks. That’s when people find out who are their real friends.
I spent years shepherding a case from the USPTO to the Supreme Court on a case I didn’t get paid for, but I believed in the cause, which is the cause of not being canceled! I believe in that cause. We won. I get a lot of compliments! Some attorneys don’t get as many compliments as I do but they get to retire! But I think retiring in your mid-60s is for people who don’t have anything they are passionate about.
Our firm identified the need to update people’s web headshots. And through our PR firm, they knew of Alissa. I liked the experience- Alissa gives so much thought to what she does. It was effortless. I’ve had some good headshots and been told I was hired on the strength of previous headshots that were more traditional, but Alissa brought out my personality like no other. I’m looking forward to using them!”