The LOCS-TALK & BARREL Story
The story my life lock, stock and barrel, that led to the creation of this franchise
Context
I’m not delusional about being even the hundredth copy of Guy de Maupassant or Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie : but this is a short story with a long context.
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When I began practising as a lawyer, like most lawyers I focused on the brief at hand, playing within the contours of what a lawyer’s domain is and what isn’t. I was trained into playing within the framework until I started my own practice. Now it is important to note that what follows was initially not a matter of choice but of necessity, which was an equation that swapped rather swiftly. When I began to fly solo, I began advising a handful of Bay area startups, each of them run by a team of two to four people at a maximum. I was signed on usually to protect the IP and advise on the data privacy implications. For my understanding and to make sure I was extra diligent with my advice, I would usually sit with technical diagrams, charts and processes unique to each client for hours on end, to build an IP and data strategy from scratch. With time and while working with clients across jurisdictions, I could draw confidence only after I had conducted this process, which I call my “all stakeholders’ fingerprint check”.
I initially devised this method for my practice to provide holistic advice. I would sit with the technical team and the business team, that comprised of every single person with their fingerprint (or as much as a tacit consent) on any document related to their IP and tech, to gauge their intention and the framework in which the business was operating. Needless to say, nine years later it has become muscle memory and my go to method in advising my wide range of clients across sectors. Albeit demanding, my watertight system works flawlessly for me and my clients.
However, my system evolved for the better during the pandemic when like everyone else, I had some time open in my law office’s (called LOCS Online) calendar. An incessant writer from my childhood, I began my little side project, Horseshoe.Inc, under which I helped a few friends put together their social media content as all businesses moved online. Meanwhile, I was simultaneously advising a fashion brand to craft their IP and sustainability strategy. During this time, I chanced upon this company’s communication material including pictures that they were going to use for their social media campaigns and observed a few deeply problematic things that were going to cost the company in the long term. By this time having had experience with developing accessible yet high quality social media content at Horseshoe.Inc, I found it imperative to have a conversation with the founders about my two major points of concern. First, the content was a sitting duck for potential copyright infringement claims as the entire communication strategy was modelled completely on one of the fairly fast growing sustainable fashion brands at the time. Second, being privy to their tech and the processes I was fairly certain that the claims that were being made in the communication content could be categorised as - ambitious and debatable at best and, false advertising and greenwashing at worst. I obviously expressed my concern to the team and highlighted the potential claims that could lie not so far ahead in the future for the company. Understanding the far reaching ramifications of my observations, I was invited to work in tandem with the communications team to review the content to check its congruency with the law.
This was the first time, I witnessed the undeniable storehouse of power within the marriage of strategic legal expertise and the power of storytelling, for a business. And just like that my system of “all stakeholders’ fingerprint check” got a sophisticated upgrade to involve the communications team, as well.
Subtext
For the next five years, I followed my curiosity to research in depth about the UN SDGs, the sudden rise of claims in Greenwashing across the board, social washing and associated global ESG risks. Unbeknownst to me, it started reflecting in my practice massively as I started paying close attention to a company’s strategy to tell their story. As a lawyer, I got into the practice of flagging content that could lead to potential claims of IP infringement, misinformation, regulatory issues and potential reputational risks in the future - which is the biggest nightmare for any business .
Believing firmly in creating a positive impact through my practice, I organically felt myself gravitating towards giving priority to entrepreneurs, angel investors, funds, educational institutions and non-profit organisations that were involved in environmental, social and cultural impact entrepreneurship. Guarding my interest to align my intention with action, I let myself go with the flow to reach where I am. I started having more focused conversations with my other clients on ways to have a more positive impact while debunking some of their fears and myths. Obviously, it trickled down into my teaching and found its way into the IP, Tech and Sustainability law courses I teach.
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Today, marinating in this mix of legal expertise, powerful storytelling and a business’ impact shaping the culture of our societal fabric, I think the time is ripe to put out as much as I know about the these fields and their interaction with each other. All future analysis in this space is to highlight this interaction to show that there is an interconnectedness in these topics and that it can play an instrumental part in protecting as well as scaling a business substantially.
My team and I, are dedicated solely to our endeavour to build a community of people with shared values, who can collaborate and bring more value to the modern day entrepreneurship. We focus on bringing the best minds in this space to share their expertise, lead the thought leadership and also render tangible advice on how to foster a vibrant community of change-makers and contribute to a more just and sustainable world.
The LOCS-TALK & BARREL franchise is a supportive ecosystem where law, society, culture and compelling narratives converge to drive positive impact. With our newsletter and podcast, our goal is to bridge the gap between impact ventures and the resources they need to succeed. Therefore, this space that we are creating will act as a platform to empower such impact entrepreneurs to amplify their voices and stories of successes and failures.
In the following posts and episodes, we will be delving deeper into each concept mentioned here and compile explainers on - cultural narratives, social justice, diversity, equality and inclusion, developments in Tech for Good, IP Law, storytelling and communication strategy, arts and culture as well as conversations with inspirational impact entrepreneurs.
Join us, on this exciting journey and subscribe to my potpourri - the LOCS-TALK & BARREL Newsletter and Podcast to get first dibs on the content straight to your inbox. We promise you - this is going to be a fun ride.
Brace for impact!
