Take It to the Runway: Succeeding in Fashion IP Law

Joan Davis is licensed to practice law in New York and Virginia, but her trademark clients come from all over the world. Joan regularly holds seminars with emerging and experienced designers, fashion models, and parents of burgeoning talent. Joan is a licensed private investigator and has worked with internet service providers to have counterfeit goods removed from online retailers. As the mother of a daughter who was a child model, Joan has been exposed to the fashion industry as an insider. Often, she counsels young models and their parents concerning issues involved in the modeling industry. Joan was featured with her daughter as a guest on The Katie Couric Show in 2014. The episode highlighted the difficulties child fashion models encounter in the industry and the necessity of New York’s Child Model law.

Shivani Honwad, Esq. founded The Law Firm of Shivani Honwad, LLC in 2014 after working in the public and private sectors and clerking for the Chief Judge of the Family Court of Delaware upon graduating from law school. She focuses primarily on immigration and business law for companies in the fashion, tech, wellness and entertainment realms. Shivani is a passionate advocate for human rights and dedicates part of her practice to these efforts. She successfully lobbied to amend Delaware’s state laws to provide better protections to juvenile victims of prostitution and is actively advocating for improved transparency in the modeling industry in NYC. She has served on the Young Executive Board of the Nomi Network, the Young Professionals Board of Girls Educational and Mentoring Services (GEMS), the Sand Sisters LA Board and been a member of the New York State Anti-Trafficking Coalition. She has also been a member of the South Asian Bar Association of New York, serving as the Vice President of Public Interest in 2015 and was recognized as the 2017 Pro Bono Attorney of the Year; the American Bar Association, including being appointed by the ABA President as the Young Lawyer’s Delegate to the ABA Human Trafficking Task Force in 2013, and the American Immigration Lawyers Association. As a graduate of New York University's Stern School of Business and founder of a few companies and ventures, Shivani understands what it takes for entrepreneurs and companies to be successful and thus blends her passion and expertise to help people achieve their dreams.

Abe Lichy is a native New Yorker with a background as a lawyer, entrepreneur, and musician. After graduating from Cardozo Law School in 2010, Abe began a 6 year career in corporate litigation at Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman where, among other matters, he represented global brands in various IP litigation. After leaving BigLaw to pursue a more entrepreneurial path, Abe and his wife started a fashion brand, where he was the CEO for 3 years. Realizing he missed being a lawyer and that startups had a need for knowledgeable and experienced attorneys in the field, he decided to start his own firm, The Lichy Law Firm, where he’s an owner. Lichy Law is an NYC-based law firm primarily focused on representing start-ups across multiple verticals, including tech, fashion, e-commerce, marketing, social media influencers and brand consultants. Over the past 2 years, Lichy Law has serviced over 1,500 clients and is growing!

Zuzana Šimonovská is an attorney at law admitted to the Czech Bar Association and the founding partner of Simonovska IP. Zuzana specializes in intellectual property and fashion law. She focuses on complex protection of the intellectual property of her clients, advising on trademark and industrial design registrations locally and throughout the EU. Her firm further represents clients in litigation matters and in the drafting and negotiation of all contractual documents pertaining to the use and disposal of rights to intangible property. Zuzana works with emerging fashion designers and lectures as the Founder and Director of the Czech Fashion Law Association. Zuzana contributed on the topics covering fashion law to various publications, most recently to Fashion Management (GRADA).