Kailey Fairchild attends Northwestern Pritzker School of Law.
Q: Many of our interns come to us with unique backgrounds in the arts. Do you have any personal background in the arts?
A: I do! I have my Master’s in art history, and have previously worked in academia and art museums. My research specialized in 18th century Spanish colonialism.
How did you hear about LCA?
I googled it! When I was considering moving away from art history towards a career as an attorney, “art law” was something I was looking into a lot! LCA came up quickly as a resource for artists looking for legal representation.
What did you expect? Did anything here surprise you?
I was surprised that LCA takes on nearly all legal issues, not just artistic or creative related ones! So long as you are an artist of some kind, you can usually get legal help through LCA, and that was an awesome surprise.
Do you have any favorite moments or projects from your time with us?
I have loved getting to talk to incoming clients and dig a little deeper into their legal questions. It also has been great to get a glimpse of the local artistic community in Chicago, because so many people reach out to LCA ahead of performances, tours, showings, etc. I’ve learned so much.
How has your experience at LCA connected with what you have been learning in law school?
I had just finished an intellectual property survey course, and it’s been really helpful background knowledge for the amount of copyright and trademark questions artists come to LCA with!
Did you come into LCA hoping to get experience in a particular area of law? Have your interests changed at all?
I was hoping to get some experience with contracts and other kinds of licensing deals, which I have learned a lot about! I’m still hoping to go into a transactional practice after law school.
What’s next for you? Has your time at LCA helped you to narrow your options?
I’m currently interviewing for a summer associate position next year at a law firm. I don’t think LCA has helped narrow my options, but it has been a great thing to talk about in these interviews!
Do you hope to volunteer with LCA once you have your degree?
Absolutely!
What value does an organization like LCA add to the arts community?
A massive amount of value! Everyone deserves legal representation, but I think it’s easy for artists to forgo that need in the effort of saving money. Knowing that a service like LCA exists provides opportunities for a community to legal representation that normally wouldn’t have it.
Which tv-show/movie/song/book have you recently finished that you would recommend?
If you haven’t watched The Bear yet you need to (especially Chicagoans!). I also just finished the book Less which was excellent.
Thank you Kailey Fairchild for all of your hard work as an intern this quarter! Check the website or follow us on social media for future intern profiles and other exciting content.