How to Get into Entertainment Law

Valérie earned her B.S. degree in political science and government from the University of Central Florida, graduating in three years. She subsequently pursued her law degree at the American University Washington College of Law. During her time in law school, Valérie achieved several notable accomplishments. She served as a Senior Staffer on the American University Intellectual Property Brief, an Advocate within the Mock Trial Honor Society, assumed the role of Director of Alumni Affairs for the Mid-Atlantic region of the National Black Law Students Association, and chaired the Fashion Law Society.

Valérie’s was a Semi-Finals of the 2020 Texas Young Lawyers Association National Trial Competition. In 2019, she won the American Bar Association John Marshall Law School National Criminal Justice Trial Competition and earned accolades for Best Opening Statement and Best Cross-Examination. In 2020, Valérie co-founded LegallyBlack, a platform dedicated to empowering and educating minority communities of color about the significance of intellectual property law protection.

Before her tenure at Marshall Gerstein, Valérie served as a Law Clerk for the Honorable Danya A. Dayson at the District of Columbia Superior Court. Following her clerkship, she provided legal counsel to clients at both a full-service law firm and a boutique intellectual property law firm.

Coco is a corporate lawyer with 24 years’ experience, creating companies and doing deals. She helps business people around the world identify risk and adopt strategies to manage it, negotiate and close deals, and manage all aspects of their businesses. Coco is oddly passionate about writing contracts that clearly map the business deal and reduce exposure to liability. She works in a wide range of industries including art, digital media, events, entertainment, advertising, healthcare, e-commerce, manufacturing, trucking, warehousing, renewable energy, hotel development, consumer products, apparel, restaurants, firearms and retail.

Coco has also invented a legal specialty called “Business Marriage Counseling,” in which she works with business owners to create – or repair – their relationships, or, if necessary, to gently break their business apart.

Coco is deeply committed to her life as a business lawyer. She founded Seasongood Law, Inc., to provide first class business law and legal counseling at an affordable price. Coco is passionate about helping her clients manage risk and make money. Before she founded Seasongood Law, Inc., Coco spent 18 years in Big Law, including as a partner at Bryan Cave LLP.

Michelle is a Partner at the law firm of Swanson, Martin & Bell, LLP, a nationally recognized firm with 6 offices in 3 states, and serves as Vice Chair of her firm’s Entertainment and Media Practice.  She has a Master of Laws in Intellectual Property and focuses her entertainment and IP work overseeing multiple client portfolios and providing comprehensive representation to a variety of arts and entertainment clients. For years, Michelle has guest lectured at a number of educational institutions (e.g., Azuza Pacific University, UIC Law School, DePaul University School of Law, Chicago-Kent Law School, etc.) and has also published several articles and served as an Editor for the American Bar Association’s, Entertainment and Sports Lawyer Journal. She is the former President of the Associate Board to Lawyers for the Creative Arts, a non-profit organization that provides free legal services to eligible clients in the arts and entertainment communities and proudly serves as Events Chair for the Chicago Chapter of Women in Music, a non-for-profit organization dedicated to fostering equality in the music industry through the support and advancement of women.