Welcome to Versant Legal

News

What's going on at Versant Legal

Alisha R. Bloom to co-present “Drafting More Effective Contracts” seminar at MCLE in Boston

On March 7, 2019, attorney and mediation professor Alisha R. Bloom will co-present a seminar on “Drafting More Effective Contracts” at the MCLE Conference Center in Boston. The three-hour seminar will provide the competitive edge that all transactional attorneys need. Learn about best practices in drafting and negotiating processes, key terms and conditions, and common pitfalls. Hear what clients expect from outside counsel during negotiations and in codifying deals. Learn how to make the most effective use of current technologies. Hear the faculty explain tried-and-true techniques to remove impasses and discuss the ins-and-outs—from the initial email to final executable—using practical, modern-world examples and critical analysis. In a competitive, increasingly digitized environment with limited resources, the lawyer who efficiently strikes an effective balance between achieving the right level of contractual protection and negotiating to reflect their clients’ risk-tolerance is most likely to be repeatedly engaged. Bring your questions!

Register for the seminar or find out more on MCLE’s website.

 

Alisha R. Bloom to present “Econ 101 of E-book Pricing” workshop at RWA’s national conference in Denver

On July 20, 2018, attorney and former economist Alisha R. Bloom will present a workshop at the Romance Writers of America’s national conference titled “Econ 101 of E-book Pricing.” The workshop applies basic economic concepts to e-books in an easy-to-understand lesson that can help authors choose pricing strategies. Topics to be discussed include consumer demand and how changes in price affect demand; the ways e-books are different from experiences and tangible products; and how psychology may influence pricing decisions. Attendees will leave with pricing strategy ideas they can tailor to their individual circumstances and goals.

Register for the conference or find out more on RWA’s website.

 

Alisha R. Bloom to co-present “Negotiating Software Licenses” at the BBA

On June 13, 2018, technology lawyer Alisha R. Bloom will co-present a workshop at the Boston Bar Association titled “Negotiating Software Licenses.” The workshop is co-sponsored by the BBA’s Intellectual Property Law Section and Internet & Technology Law Committee.

Hear from two seasoned negotiators who will share their tips and pitfalls for negotiating software licenses. This session will cover key provisions in license agreements, “industry standard” terms, partnering with tech and business colleagues, and drafting customer-friendly forms. If you deal with technology contracts, but not every day, this session is for you.

More information about the workshop is available on the BBA’s website.

 

What do romance writers/readers think of Negotiating Your Way to an HEA?

After attending my presentation, “Negotiate Your Way to an HEA” at NECRWA’s March 2018 meeting, author and blogger Jackie Horne asked her blog’s visitors, “What type of HEA do you prefer: Accommodation or Collaboration?” I had suggested during my presentation that romance heroes and heroines often seem to move along a character arc from more competitive, self-oriented negotiation styles to more collaborative, balanced negotiation styles that valued meeting both one’s own needs as well as the needs of one’s romantic partner. Jackie pointed out at the meeting, and again in her blog post, that recent romances were more likely to have collaboration as the end goal, while “Old Skool romances generally held up the ‘accommodation’ style as the heart of a true HEA. Older romances, which value the ‘taming’ of the alpha hero, a taming that causes him to not only admit his feelings of love for the heroine, but also to recognize the value of emotional work typically carried out by the female half of the population, require their heroes not to compromise or to collaborate, but instead to ‘accommodate’: to give up their own needs or desires (because they are misguided and harmful) and to replace those needs and desires with those of their heroines.”

I thought this was a fascinating observation, and it led to a very lively discussion at the end of the presentation. I look forward to presenting this workshop again next week at NECRWA’s annual conference in front of a different audience and seeing where our discussion leads.