An upside to being a lawyer whose practice includes entertainment law is the occasional invite to a cool event. Such was the case last Thursday when I served as a judge at a Battle of the Bands event hosted by Law Rocks at the 9:30 Club in the District of Columbia.
Law Rocks is a nonprofit organization that organizes concerts around the globe with proceeds going to local charities within the host city. There have been Law Rocks concerts in London, Sydney, Dubai, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. Thursday’s concert was the first in Washington DC.
Part of the fun is encouraging attorneys and other legal professionals to release their inner rock stars. All members from the performing bands hail from local law firms or law schools. The eight bands on Thursday night’s 9:30 Club roster consisted of Attractive Nuisance, Buzzard Point Caucus, Estoppelgängers, The Fine Print, Redacted, Splinters, Sutherland Comfort, and Tortious Tones.
As a judge, I did not deduct points from any band for a name that some might view as mildly dorky. In fact, I embrace the dorkiness. When I form my musical group of legal professionals, we will call ourselves Boilerplate – in homage to the transactional nature of my law firm practice.
Each performing band rocks (i.e., raises funds) for a specific local charity. A nice touch at Thursday’s 9:30 Club concert was having a representative from each band’s selected charity introduce the band as the band took the stage.
If Law Rocks comes to your city and you have the opportunity to serve on the Rock Panel of Judges, I highly recommend accepting. The evening was a blast and Law Rocks takes good care of its volunteer judges with complimentary car service, V.I.P. seating, food, and libations.
Here’s me (Joy) with two of my fellow Rock Panel judges - blues musician Michael "JR" Tash (left) and talent agent Ray Bialek (right).
Congratulations to Law Rocks for a successful inaugural DC concert event offering a good time to a bunch of good people for the benefit of several good charitable causes.