FAQs

The goal is to meet your agency where it needs help. So we collaborate with agencies in one of three ways:  flat fee project engagements, monthly retainers, and, when it makes the most sense, hourly engagements. Our focus is on the outcome you need, and we’ll always have a discussion about the best fee model for your work before we get started.

Our lawyers are based in multiple cities throughout the U.S., and our clients’ legal issues deal primarily with federal law. And so our work is nationwide, focused specifically on agency clients. If you have a state-specific legal issue, we’ll work to pair you with a local or regional legal advisor who can help.

There are many great IP law firms, and a number of great advertising law firms in the U.S. And there are many great business law firms too. What the industry was missing was a law firm that combines industry and relevant business knowledge with the necessary legal expertise to manage agencies’ specific issues. We’ve spent years helping agencies navigate these matters, eliminating learning curves and letting us focus, quickly, on getting your agency to the legal solution it needs.

We see agencies encounter trademark or copyright issues most often when: 1) they enter into a client contract for work that will involve creating IP (like a new brand or original creative), 2) they engage a contractor who will create IP for the agency or a client, 3) they are branding or rebranding a client or their offerings, or 4)they are acquiring creative assets (like stock photos or AI generated work) that will be included in deliverables. Toerek Law helps your agency identify IP and properly clear, protect, and monetize it.

Freelance talent is a fact of life for an independent agency – almost every agency will need to engage contract assistance at some point to meet client demand or fill some capacity gap.

The most critical step an agency can take to protect itself (and its clients) when engaging contractor talent is to have a clear, written agreement. This is important for a number of legal reasons, and it’s essential to ensuring the agency clearly owns the rights to the work a contractor completes for you. Toerek Law can assist your agency in creating the right agreement to fit your contractor scenario.

There are many marketing regulations that impact the work agencies create. Some of those regulations impact the content and claims made in advertising, others impact the disclosures and degree of transparency required by regulators in social media and influence marketing, and there are sometimes cumbersome rules that impact digital and direct response campaigns.

The shorthand for agencies here is that if work will be publicly displayed to persuade consumers, there is likely a rule or regulation that will impact it. Toerek Law helps agencies identify these regulatory risks and build in compliance measures before campaigns roll out to clients and consumers.

The adoption of AI in all facets of agency business, especially generative AI, creates legal risks, and most frequently, the risks are in the area of IP ownership, responsibility for copyright or trademark infringement, and managing data privacy and confidentiality requirements. Toerek Law counsels agencies on risk management strategies around AI use, including effective policy creation and specific contract provisions to protect your business. We’ve also created an agency-specific legal toolkit to help agencies manage AI risk quickly.

This is our Firm’s MOST FREQUENTLY ASKED legal question by agencies.

Our experience is that just about every agency needs these critical legal agreements to operate their business safely:  The client MSA, the Independent Contractor Agreement, a Mutual Nondisclosure Agreement, and an employee contract or Business Protection Agreement. And there are many other types of contracts that should probably be a part of your agency’s legal toolkit, but those depend upon the type of agency you operate, and the types of clients and vendors you engage.

Our experience is also that most agencies should review and update their standard contract toolkits at least annually. Toerek Law can perform an audit of your contracts to help you decide when and how they need updating (or upleveling).