Recently I had an idea for a new type of advertising company. I don’t want to spoil the surprise just in case it ever takes off, I don’t know how likely it is, but you never know right. I’ve thought about the business plan and how I would get my project off the ground for the last couple of weeks, but I have no idea if there is a law that has stopped others in the past or would stop me from developing my project further. This week I took advantage of this assignment and sent out some e-mails. In each e-mail I described the purpose behind the advertising company I had conceived but made it a point to keep the e-mails short. Then I looked up four of the biggest law firms in Chicago that handled cases in advertisement or in a relevant subject manner and sent them all e-mails. Two of the e-mails were sent to partners in the firms, and the remaining two were sent to generic addresses on the firms’ websites due to a lack of better contact information. It has been several days now and sadly I have yet to hear back from any of the firms I e-mailed, but I do not plan on giving up. I think instead of e-mailing law firms in Chicago I am going to talk to a firm located closer to campus and mention that I am a student at U of I to spark interest in my project. In my previous e-mails I didn’t mention that I am a student for fear of not getting a response, but now what do I have to lose!
Also this week I joined a club on campus that helps fight hunger in the area. I feel that so many people send food and support overseas when there are people here that need help. We need to help ourselves before we send aid to others and I feel this club will help me do that as well as offer leadership opportunities in the next couple of years. I went to a social event with some of the executive board members and have remained in contact on Facebook with one of them so I hope something great comes from it!
Its cool that you emailed these firms to try to get some info, but I can understand if they don't give you much if any info back. Their business is built on handling legal cases and giving legal advise so to give it out for free to anyone who emailed them would be asking a little much, though I wouldn't be surprised if they emailed back how to hire them to work on it. I think you will probably have better luck with emailing local firms, or maybe even networking around campus for anyone who has some experience in law. I also think its cool that you joined a club to help fight hunger in the area. I agree that there are people around here who need help just as much as people in other countries. Good luck with your idea and club.
ReplyDeleteHave you considered emailing firms in other areas of the country? Maybe Milwaukee or St. Louis if you don't want them to be too far? Even though these firms would probably not know about Illinois law, they would give a good idea of your situation in case the closer ones do not respond.
ReplyDeleteAlso, have you considered talking to venture capitalist firms? They might help you as they specialize in getting ideas off the ground with funding. They almost definitely have knowledge and/or connections in law.
Just out of curiousity, why did you join the club that fights hunger in this area? What did it offer you that others clubs didn't? Self satisfaction, experience in an area, etc.
Have you considered talking to any law professors here at UIUC? It would probably be a lot easier to reach them and get a proper response then emailing a firm that is hard to relate to.
ReplyDeleteAre there any other clubs that are interested in helping the community that you plan on joining? I know about Habitat for Humanity and a few others. If you're interested in helping the community those would be great clubs to join as well
What is the name of the club you joined? I may be interested in contacting them for my iTeam's project.
Did you thoruoughly investigate your dilemma before you asked these major firms? Your answer might have been easily found through other resources. Did you ever consider contacting smaller firms? Although smaller firms are not as reknowned as big names from Chicago, they might be more personal and actually give you a respsonse. The club you joined sounds interesting. Were you concerned about the issues that the club encompassed beforehand? Or were you intrigued by there interests once you saw them and decided it was a good cause?
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