Miranda Salazar is a 3L at University of Wisconsin Madison Law set to graduate in the Spring of 2022. Miranda is hyper-involved in the law school community where she is a Note and Comment Editor for the Wisconsin Law Review, the President of the Women’s Law Student Association, a 3L Student Bar Association Representative and the Wellness Committee Student Liaison. She is an alumna of the University of Wisconsin Law and Entrepreneurship Clinic and a former Teaching Assistant for Professor Ion Meyn. Q: Many of our interns come to us with unique backgrounds in the arts. Do you have any personal background in the arts? A: Yes! I have a degree in Studio Art from Lawrence University where I graduated magna cum laude in 2019. My art concentration was in large scale interactive sculptures and artist books. My exhibition piece was an interactive public library replete with 500 hand-cut and sown books, a hand build bookshelf and benches where people could sit and write in the books thus becoming co-authors in the piece. How did you hear about LCA? I heard about LCA through independent research and through John O’Neill (LCA Operations Manager), who also attended Lawrence University! What did you expect? Did anything here surprise you? We get to talk to so many artists here! Almost every day I’ll have a call with an artist of a different ilk or specialty – it’s fantastic. I’ve talked to historically reenactors, visual artists and a ton of different musicians. Do you have any favorite moments or projects from your time with us? I really value helping artists evolve their ’side hustles’ into full blown functional business entities. Additionally, it’s been such a valuable experience to get to watch our director of legal services, Stacy Streur, interview our artists for intake. She has been doing it for so long, she makes it look easy. How has your experience at LCA connected with what you have been learning in law school? The whole experience is basically a real-life intellectual property issue spotter. I really enjoyed my intellectual property class, taught by Professor BJ Ard, so I was glad to have the opportunity to make use of the skills that he taught us. I’ve also been able to continue to hone my client interview skills that I initially developed while at the Law and Entrepreneurship Clinic at UW Madison. Did you come into LCA hoping to get experience in a particular area of law? Have your interests changed at all? I came in to LCA wanted to hone my intellectual property skills – specifically copyright and trademark and that is what I’ve been able to do! I’ve also been able to try my hand at some tort and employment law while at LCA and I’m grateful for the opportunity to try different areas of practice that I otherwise wouldn’t interact with. What’s next for you? Has your time at LCA helped you to narrow your options? I’m looking for a post-graduation job in the entertainment and intellectual property law field! In the fall, I’ll be interning in Justice Dallet’s chambers on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. Do you hope to volunteer with LCA once you have your degree? Of course! I love LCA’s mission and firmly believe that artists need more legal representation at an affordable, if not pro-bono, rate so yes, I plan to volunteer once I have my JD. What value does an organization like LCA add to the arts community? As an artist myself I have watched my friends and colleagues sign contracts that they did not understand. Artists are smart people, but contracts are not always written in eligible prose. Lawyers who volunteer to help cut through the legalize and statutory red tape allow for the artist to focus on their artistic mission rather than get bogged down in legal complications that are easily dealt with by an informed intellectual property attorney. I think that the work that LCA does is invaluable and I’m so happy to have been a part of it. What’s a fun fact about you? I’ve lived in six countries (U.S. Namibia, Ghana, Portugal, Brazil and Tanzania) because my family is in the U.S. State Department. Which tv-show/movie/song/book have you recently finished that you would recommend? Ted Lasso! It’s a short TV series on Apple+ that I binged twice this summer. It’s lighthearted and fun while being absolutely hilarious. Could not recommend it higher. Plus – the second season just came out! Thank you Miranda for all of your hard work as an intern this semester! Check the website or follow us on social media for future intern profiles and other exciting content. Tags: Intern Profiles, News
