Most think they must sacrifice their passion to take a more sensible career.
You may love fashion, but think you must find a law career in a more sensible industry so that you can have an abundance of employment opportunities down the road.
However, you can utilize your legal skills in the fashion field, working with creative designers and supporting their work or being legal counsel to an entire brand.
Fashion lawyers are active in numerous core practice areas and can gain experience in other industries with a focus on patent law and intellectual property.
Whether you are a seasoned attorney looking to transition into fashion law, a young professional trying to find your place in the legal community, or a law student, it’s important to understand the nuances and career opportunities in the fashion field.
Keep reading to learn more!
List of Jobs for Legal Careers in Fashion
Working as a fashion lawyer means you must focus on several key areas, including business law, collaboration agreements, contracts, employment law, independent contractor agreements, licensing, environmental regulations, intellectual property, and worker protections.
Depending on your area of expertise, these legal areas can lead to one of the following legal careers in fashion:
1. Chief Legal Counsel
Chief Legal Counsel is not a position that you can achieve immediately out of college but is a great goal for later in your career.
The Chief Legal Counsel oversees all legal matters within an organization, including regulatory compliance, intellectual property, and contracts.
The Chief Legal Counsel also provides management of global legal affairs for the company and subsidiaries, utilizing internal and external resources, handling commercial agreements, third-party retail arrangements, and advertising agreements.
Additional responsibilities include managing product licensure, technology, and e-commerce contracts, and negotiating joint ventures, mergers, acquisitions, and corporate buyouts.
Furthermore, they are required to handle privacy matters, advise on employment law issues, manage litigation matters, offer strategy advice, oversee real estate, social and product compliance, and environmental sustainability.
Since Chief Legal Counsel is the head of the legal department, they are compensated well, with a salary ranging from $287,000 to $433,000 without stocks, bonuses, and other financial benefits.
2. Commercial Lawyer
Commercial Lawyers provide oversight and management of the global legal affairs of the company and its subsidiaries, utilizing internal and external resources.
This position directly handles international and domestic commercial agreements, such as transaction negotiations, advertising agreements, e-commerce contracts, service agreements, consulting arrangements, and third-party retail agreements.
Additional responsibilities include advising on employment law issues, handling privacy and litigation matters, offering strategy advice to various support divisions within the corporation, and overseeing product and social compliance, environmental sustainability, real estate, and risk assessments.
Some Commercial Lawyers must also set and manage the legal budget for internal personnel and external outsourcing.
This may also include anti-counterfeiting and trademark expenses.
The average salary of a Commercial Lawyer is around $140,000, but it varies widely depending on location, type of law firm, and experience.
3. Digital Legal Counsel
Naturally, Digital Legal Counsel is heavily involved in e-commerce work, like advising on regulatory requirements, website terms and conditions, consumer law, website design requirements, and transactional website obligations.
Also, this position is greatly involved in data protection work, like advising on online behavioral advertising, direct marketing rules, information security requirements, and data protection protocols and principles.
Although Digital Legal Counsel is primarily focused on digital IP, trademarks, and copyrights, their skills may also be utilized in non-digital legal areas, depending on the size of the company.
The primary responsibilities for Digital Legal Counsel include drafting commercial agreements like public relations and marketing contracts, event sponsorship, supply and purchase contracts, venue hiring, influencer and talent contribution, brand collaboration, and non-disclosure agreements.
Other responsibilities include advertising and marketing work related to advertising codes and laws of practice, competitions, events, and legal obligations behind promotional work.
The average salary of a Digital Legal Counsel professional in the U.S. is just under $130,000 per year, without additional financial compensation.
4. Fashion Law Attorney
A Fashion Law Attorney specializes in regulations and legal issues within the fashion industry.
These professionals offer legal advice and represent clients in areas related to international trade, employment and labor, licensing, contracts, and intellectual property.
They also work closely with designers and related companies to circumvent the complicated legal landscape of the fashion industry.
Fashion Law Attorneys manage product liability issues, licensing agreements, marketing regulations, labor and employment disputes, contract negotiation and drafting, copyrights and trademarks, and other intellectual property protection.
Those in this role work with fashion designers, external companies involved in the fashion industry, like suppliers, manufacturers, retailers, and models.
A Fashion Law Attorney can expect to make around $100,000 per year with pay ranging from $60,000 to $150,000, depending on experience.
5. General Counsel
General Counsel provides direct legal support to various corporate departments across numerous commercial and legal issues.
The main responsibilities include managing IP litigation related to trademarks, copyright, and design rights, drafting cease and desist letters, advising on strategies and settlements, and managing external legal providers.
Other functions include assisting with the internal trademark portfolio, proactively managing the domain name portfolio, devising strategies, and implementing recovery strategies.
Further responsibilities include providing practical commercial risk and advice to buying and design teams within different departments related to legal implications, and assisting with global brand security strategies, supply chain security, and anti-counterfeit measures.
Those entering the General Counsel field are well compensated, with the average pay sitting at $165,903 annually.
This pay ranges significantly from $59,000 to $271,000, which is influenced by location, experience, company size, and type.
6. Intellectual Property Legal Counsel
IP Legal Counsel is lower on the hierarchy than Chief Legal Counsel and more involved in ensuring the daily legal operations are running smoothly.
They are responsible for negotiating and drafting a range of commercial contracts, including agency, shop-in-shops, concession, and franchising.
They also must follow projects through with commercialization teams from consultation to execution, manage legal aspects of projects, advise on legal issues like privacy, confidentiality, competition, and data protection, and assist in protecting IP.
Additional responsibilities include liaising with the Group and external counsel, managing disputes, litigation, and claims, and assisting with general work to support the business.
An IP Legal Counsel professional can expect to average around $200,000 per year in the United States.
The expected pay ranges from $156,000 to $256,000, with the driving salary factors being based on location, experience, and company type.
7. Legal Administrative Assistant
Not all positions within fashion law require a Juris Doctorate, such as Legal Administrative Assistant and Paralegal.
A Legal Administrative Assistant manages all the administrative activities within a legal department or for a specific function.
These include drafting different types of documents in English, or in some cases another language based on the global corporate headquarters location, reviewing corporate documentation, and collecting signatures.
Other responsibilities include preparing cover presentations for corporate documents, updating databases, managing archiving activities, and overseeing the mapping of corporate governance documents and the structure of power.
The position requires a degree in some type of law field with excellent verbal and written communication, and a high proficiency in spreadsheets, presentation software, and word processing programs.
Given that the Legal Administrative Assistant role does not require as much in-depth knowledge as an attorney, the average salary is significantly lower at $57,300.
Salaries for this position can range from $40,000 to $80,500, with bonuses and other financial compensation possible.
8. Paralegal
A Paralegal in the fashion industry is a more research-based position, providing support to counsel on a variety of topics.
Their responsibilities include offering general assistance to the legal team on daily matters, populating and checking standard form contracts, preparing contracts for attorney signatures, and assisting on due diligence matters.
Also, a Paralegal must assist with the production of transaction documentation, templates, and continuous management databases.
One of the core aspects of the paralegal position is conducting ad hoc legal research to support attorneys in corporate legal matters.
Other aspects of the role include ad hoc review of daily commercial contracts, like social influencer and marketing agreements, and non-disclosure agreements, liaising with external agreements like counsel, trademark attorneys, and regulatory authorities, and managing contract capture.
Even though Paralegals are the backbone of legal work, due to their extensive research expertise, they are not compensated nearly as much as an attorney.
The average annual paralegal salary is just under $61,000.
However, there is a hierarchy in the field with Senior Paralegals averaging $76,800 per year and the highest 10% making $98,800 annually.
5 Tips for Legal Careers in Fashion When Looking for a Job
Finding a legal job in the fashion industry requires a strong legal foundation, specifically in intellectual property and law, along with strategic networking and relevant experience.
This can be challenging for those entering the field directly from college.
However, internships and co-ops can help bridge the gap between newness to the field and experience.
These five tips can help you in your job search to enter the fashion industry.
One: Connect With Other Professionals
Networking with industry insiders and fashion lawyers will help you get a footing in the industry.
This is best accomplished by seeking mentorship, joining professional associations, being involved in online platforms, and attending seminars and conferences.
These connections will lead to valuable insights and opportunities that can further your career.
Two: Consider Specialized Education
Many schools, especially those in major cities where fashion is abundant, offer fashion law programs or courses.
Even if you are not located in one of these areas, online resources are available for you to further enhance your knowledge of fashion law.
These curricula and courses will focus on a range of fashion topics from intellectual property to fashion case studies, taught by past and current industry professionals.
This is also an excellent opportunity for networking with classmates and professors.
Three: Explore In-House Positions
Depending on the company you currently work for, in-house positions may already be available, thus giving you a more hands-on opportunity for working in this field.
If you work in an entirely different industry, consider applying for in-house positions at fashion brands or parent companies, as these also come with extensive benefits offered by the corporation.
Four: Master Legal Fundamentals
While this might go without saying, it’s important to have a solid foundation of intellectual property law, such as patents, copyrights, and trademarks.
Embarking on a specialized education program can help further refine this knowledge and skills if you are coming from another area of law.
If you are currently in school, focusing your curriculum on intellectual property and related topics will further help you gain knowledge in this area.
Five: Remain Updated
Fashion law is constantly changing and shifting due to a continuously evolving environment.
Therefore, it’s critical to always remain updated on the latest legal issues, case studies, and other challenges facing the fashion industry.
This information is readily available online and is another important reason to attend seminars, trade shows, and network with other professionals.
Very informative. I’m doing research since I want to pursue a career in fashion after I finish high school. My parents are really supportive but I want to be prepared before stepping into college.
I didn’t know you could pursue a paralegal practice for fashion, but this is what I am looking for, which helps! I’m finishing up my degree and I’m interested in this.