By MATT CHANDLER
Buffalo Law Journal

Jeff Schober needed advice.

The Orchard Park author had just finished writing his latest book, a true-crime account of the "Bike Path Rapist" case, and was at a crossroads.

"I had been contacting publishers and agents and getting a few nibbles," he said. "I got a contract from a local publisher, and I called him to get some direction."

The "him" Schober was referring to is Stuart Shapiro, a lawyer who has spent the better part of two decades working with authors, bands, artists, television personalities and other entertainers.

For Schober and his book about convicted killer Altemio Sanchez, a nibble turned into a bite and soon, the Frontier High School English teacher had a contract sitting on his kitchen table waiting to be signed.

"(Shapiro) called me and said, ‘Do you still have that contract?' " Schober recalled. "I said, ‘It's right here,' and he told me, ‘Don't sign anything, you're getting another offer.' "

Through an industry connection, the Cohen & Lombardo PC lawyer had secured a more attractive book deal for his client. Schober would retain the movie rights to "Bike Path Rapist: A Cop's Firsthand Account of Catching the Killer Who Terrorized a Community" - a potential ace in the hole for the author.

Most importantly for Schober, who worked in collaboration with former Buffalo Police Detective Dennis Delano on the project, it meant his book would be completed and for sale. Nearly a year later and with another manuscript recently completed, he's sold thousands of copies of his book.

Shapiro is singled out for "special thanks" in Schober's "Bike Path" acknowledgements. "That's an absolute trip to walk into a Barnes and Noble and pick up that book and see that," Shapiro said.

While it could be easy to get caught up in the fanfare of working with entertainers and artists, Shapiro says he keeps the dealings strictly professional and doesn't allow himself to be distracted.

"I actually think that concept is a very dangerous aspect of the business," he said. "Attorneys who don't have the background of being in the trenches where the artists are do something that I think is very dangerous, which we call screwing the deal. They either give bad advice or they get involved in this in such a way that they get an ego boost from representing the artist. The next thing you know, everybody ends up throwing their hands up in frustration."

An author and artist in his own right, Shapiro believes help build his clients' trust.

"I have a real hesitancy to talk about anything I've done with a client. I hesitate to even name clients," he said. "I also never tell a client if I think their work is good. I tell them it doesn't matter what I think, what matters is what the target market thinks about it."

Keeping that distance allows him to maintain an objective business relationship and ensure that he is giving sound legal representation to those who seek his counsel.

Like Shapiro, Buffalo attorney Steven Fox is an artist at heart.

After working as a general practitioner upon passing the bar in 1987, Fox decided to combine his two passions and turn his practice toward working with entertainers, artists and creative types, focusing on intellectual-property law. Within five years, he was devoting the vast majority of his time to working with artists and entertainers, and any lingering doubts about whether or not there was enough business to support his vision were gone.

"There was quite a lot of demand for it, actually," he explained. "There were large companies who would hire firms to handle their intellectual property, but there weren't - there still aren't - many firms to be able to represent small companies or startups, just because of the economics of it. I am able to charge much more flexibly (than law firms), and that makes a difference."

An art collector, Fox has on more than one occasion traded legal services for artwork, much to the appreciation of starving-artist clients. He says the hardest part of working with creative souls who may not have an interest in the legal steps needed to protect their work is selling them on why they need to trust him.

"With legal services, it's hard to know the value you got, and it's hard to judge quality. You're not going to three different places to get your legal work to compare."

Robert Atkinson, a registered patent attorney with Simpson & Simpson PLLC in Williamsville, says he's seen unproven artists, authors and inventors make the mistake of holding out for a contract worth far more than what their status dictates.

"When you are a starving artist or an up-and-coming artist, you aren't in the position of negotiation," he said. "You are in the position of acceptance: You either take it or leave it, very often."

Given the uncertainty of the entertainment business, it can be nerve-wracking for an attorney to tell a young author or an up-and-coming band to walk away from a deal and go in a different direction.

"You have to make sure they are aware of the risks," said Shapiro. "You have to let them know with the experience you have that even as a first-time author (or recording artist), this isn't a good deal. But ultimately, the decision is theirs, and you are just guiding them through the process."