The practice of law alone never felt like enough for Alexandra Oumniaguina. She completed law school in London, UK at the School of Oriental and African Studies, where she specialized in human rights law. Although she graduated with a passion for law, Alex decided to not practice right away. She was interested in working in an interactive field and instead of searching for a firm job she knew she wouldn’t be happy in, she took some time to think about her future while managing a few cocktail bars in London.
When it was time to move on from the cocktail bar scene, Alex took a leap to move across the Atlantic to live in Toronto. On arrival, she decided it was time to put her law degree to use and get back into the legal field. Upon arriving, she completed the NCA, to qualify her degree, and articled with the Law Practice Program where she had the chance to work on Supreme Court of Canada cases. One of her goals after establishing her Canadian law credentials was to move away from her focus on human rights law and to enter the entertainment law practice. With many artists and entertainers as friends, Alex saw entertainment law as more than work. Her peers and network did not seek advice for their business but for their creative expressions.
Artists typically focus on their creative work and forget the importance of presenting themselves as a company and establishing themselves legally. Most of her friends working in entertainment were not comfortable going outside of their network for legal help.
Having seen her friends struggle with finding accessible legal help, Alexandra set out to create a holistic approach to legal services and help people establish businesses in the entertainment industry.
After completing the tests and necessary paperwork, Alex was finally qualified as a lawyer in Canada in 2020. She set out to establish a sole practice in entertainment law on the cusp of the pandemic. Unlike some other areas of law, entertainment law took a hard hit during the pandemic. Alex was discouraged starting off during such a difficult time. Fortunately, being close to a community of artists, she was able to take on clients through referrals.
Alex assists her clients with many legal needs including IP law for licensing, ensuring the proper royalties are set out when selling a jingle and even simple tenancy agreements. The variety of work keeps her practice interesting.
The slow start to her entertainment law practice during the pandemic gave Alexandra some extra time to expand her business interests outside of law. She was inspired to create her own creative business. After completing a programming course, Alex launched her branding company Raw Branding. Her newfound interest in programming development and her creative outlet converged to create a platform to help artistic entrepreneurs brand themselves.
Having seen the demand and client perspectives of legal services, Alex wanted to create a business that catered towards improving accessibility of legal services.
Several months after launching Raw Branding, Alex created Law Cultura, a boutique branding agency exclusively serving lawyers and professionals. Law Cultura’s key demographic highlighted the accessibility issues entertainer’s face when seeking legal help. Alexandra was also a member of the board of directors of CANVAS until 2019, an organization dedicated to addressing the barriers to financial and economic livelihood and security faced by artists in Ontario.
Lawyers' demanding workload often leads to a weaker marketing and branding of their services than a typical business. Lawyers do not usually get all their work through referrals and in this era of SEO and the cloud, businesses must position themselves properly online to be successful. Law Cultura helps lawyers rebrand and market themselves online to promote client accessibility.
As a result of her multiple ventures, Alex is currently the co-founder, brand strategist and web developer for Raw Branding and Law Cultura in addition to being a sole practitioner in entertainment law. Alex is far more fulfilled with her multiple roles than she would have been if she had just practiced law. She gets to use her legal expertise while also problem solving and connecting with people. Although her workload increased, her interest and passion make her job much more satisfying than focusing her skills in one role.
The other day, Alex’s friend, an IP lawyer, came to her for advice on switching jobs. For Alex, taking a leap when you aren’t satisfied with your career is an obvious choice. Alex’s advice is it never hurts to try something new because you could discover new practices and jobs or find different niches that require lawyers. Alex has found a way to use her legal skills to help a group of people she cares about, and her non-legal skills to help other lawyers.
Whatever your skill set, there is a place for you in the legal profession and a niche waiting for you to fill it.