Have your video games and play them too. Unsure of how to combine her passion for the creative space and the desire to help others, a single Twitter post led Alex to a budding practice in video game law. After all, who can better understand than a gamer-turned-lawyer herself?
Level 1: Finding a Path to Pursue
Prior to law school, Alex completed a double major in neuroscience and economics. Although she didn’t have any one particular field in mind to pursue, Alex knew deep down that something in the creative space was where her heart was at. Music was high up on her list of considerations; however, after many people suggested that she should look first to a more “stable job”, Alex set aside the dream of being in a punk band.
Keeping consistent with her desire to help others, Alex toyed with the idea of following in the footsteps of her father and becoming a doctor. During undergrad, she worked in the emergency department but was quick to realize that medicine was not for her. A career in law came into the picture when her friend decided to write the LSAT. Alex was introduced to corporate law and found that she could really envision herself in this field, particularly in helping start-ups and those wanting to kickstart their ideas. With that in mind and coupled with finding the Logic Games section fun, Alex decided to write the LSAT and turned her attention to law school.
Level 2: Securing the Job
Taking all the intellectual property courses available to her during her upper years at Osgoode Hall Law School, Alex narrowed down her interest into the niche area of video game law. The industry focuses heavily on copyrights, her favourite of all the IP courses she took, while combining various mediums such as visuals, music, and storytelling. It was a no-brainer for Alex. The only problem was that, at the time, video game law didn’t have the hype that it now has.
When it came time for articling recruit, Alex found that many firms did not take this area seriously. She became concerned that she might not be able to find a place where she could build a practice in her chosen area. That was until Alex stumbled upon a job posting on Twitter, of all places.
Alex was randomly browsing through a law parody account one day and decided to check out who else was following them. A firm called Spark LLP (now Spark Law Professional Corporation) came up. Curiously, Alex clicked on the profile and there, pinned at the top, was a tweet that read along the lines of, “we’re looking for an articling student”. Although Alex had never heard of the firm, she decided to apply anyways. Meeting with the lawyers at Spark was the first time that Alex felt as if she could truly express her interest in video game law and be supported from the get-go – it was kismet. Alex became the first articling student at Spark Law and began establishing her video game and esports law practice.
Level 3: Building a Network
At the start of her articles, Alex went on a lot of coffee chats to build a better understanding of the business aspects of the video game and esports industry. By this point, esports started to become a big deal in finance. Once she had a better grasp on how she could help on the business side of the game space, Alex started reaching out to indie communities around Toronto and extended her knowledge to them regarding legal aspects.
Alex returned to Spark Law as an associate and continues to expand her practice. She would love for video game law to be her full practice, however, because it is such a niche area, Alex also advises on a broader corporate law spectrum and early-stage litigation as well. Nonetheless, Alex is involved in any and all stages of her clients’ work, whether that be someone new to the gaming industry, or are already well-established, or a mix of both where they’re established but looking to start a new venture.
Whatever the case may be, Alex has no preference for where her clients are in their career because she just genuinely loves the work that she does. Seeing how excited her clients get about their projects and knowing that she is able to shoulder some of the burden by taking care of the legal components of their endeavours is the most gratifying part of her job.
Level 4: Maintaining a Passion as a Promising Profession
Nowadays, Alex unfortunately doesn’t have as much time to play video games. Despite this, she still fuels her passion by watching others play on stream. Alex particularly enjoys indie and story-driven games such as Stardew Valley, which she has probably put in more hours playing than anything else. If it were up to her though, she would play any game put to her.
Alex’s obvious enthusiasm for the video game and esports law industry is what drives her practice. For anyone who wants to break into this area, go into it because you genuinely love it and not because there is some ulterior motive. Alex knows that connecting with a client’s work and establishing that rapport makes it all the more meaningful.