Seth Eddy, J.D. ’09
Tennessee Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
Nashville, TN

Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts Organizations have been around since the 1980s.  Therefore, you might be surprised to find out that in a city known as ‘Music City,’ the capital of a state known as the ‘Volunteer State,’ there was no such organization until 2006.  Executive Director Casey Gill started Tennessee Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts in September 2006, just a few months after graduating from Vanderbilt Law School.  I was honored to be the first summer intern at this organization in 2007, both for the opportunity to serve the Nashville arts community, and the chance to help the organization itself as it gets off the ground.

TNVLA’s mission is to aid low-income artists and arts organizations with legal matters relating to their art on a pro bono basis.  It does this through several methods.  One method is by producing publications explaining relevant legal matters in layman’s terms.  One of my assignments was to produce one such publication, on the topic of my choice.  I completed a publication on the copyright termination process, which has since been sent to the graphic designers and will be distributed to interested artists soon.

The most important service TNVLA provides is access to pro bono legal assistance.  Simpler matters are handled in-house, while more complex matters are referred out to one of our volunteer lawyers.  One particular matter that I helped with was a contract dispute between a sculptor and the Metro Nashville Arts Commission.  MNAC had commissioned the artist to design, sculpt, and install some pieces of art in a new park downtown.  The artist, in reliance on the contract, began collecting supplies, quit his job teaching at a local arts college, and began work on the sculptures.  About three months before the art was scheduled for installation, the Nashville Parks Department put a one-year moratorium on placing any permanent fixtures in any Nashville parks.  This placed the artist in a tough spot, as he knew it would now be at least a year longer before he could perform his end of the contract, and having quit his teaching job, was concerned about additional expenses he might incur.  There were so many issues in this matter (offer and acceptance, frustration of purpose, impossibility, etc.) that the memo I prepared felt like it could have been the answer to a Contracts exam question.  In the end, we advised the artist to contact MNAC and explain the situation. MNAC cut him a check for his extra expenses, most likely because the dispute wasn’t really between the artist and MNAC as much as it was between MNAC and the Parks Department.

That was just one of many instances in which we were able to help artists who were in dire need of legal assistance, but without the resources to pay an attorney.  I got some great hands-on legal training, met some very cool attorneys and artists, and for the first time, saw first-hand the social benefits of pro bono work.  I know now that wherever I practice law, I will be heavily active in the area VLA organization, and if where I practice doesn’t already have one, maybe I’ll just start one up like Casey.

This essay also will appear in a spring issue of  The Advocate.

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