Law Career: 4 Tips How To Become Successful As A Female Lawyer

It is difficult enough to become a successful lawyer these days. There is such high competition for lawyers and few vacancies available for new lawyers. Those competing for positions offered by highly selective employers must be graduates from high-level law schools with excellent CGPAs and strong internship portfolios.

In addition, they usually require recommendations from law professors and former employers. Of course, those who want to become full-fledged lawyers rather than just law graduates must also pass the state exam. All of these bring years of challenges. But there are even more issues presented to females interested in pursuing law careers.
As with most fields across the country - especially in male-dominated fields the law profession is riddled with sexism. Female lawyers are often not taken as seriously as their male colleagues, both by their employees and their potential clients.

In addition, talented people can be directed to specialties they are not interested in, as those specialties are considered traditionally feminine. That said, let's examine some tips created for female lawyers. The more females are ready to take on the challenges presented to them as female lawyers, the easier it will be to succeed. Here are the 4 Tips How To Become Successful As A Female Lawyer. 

1 - Network

The network is essential that all lawyers are ready to network, and this starts quite early in a lawyer's career. When young females firstly enter law school, they need to build good relationships with their professors.

Someone who starts as your classmate can become an influential professional in just a few years. It is vital for female lawyers, who are often isolated from their male colleagues due to sexism and must make strong connections to succeed in the long run.

While female lawyers should work with other female lawyers, it is a good idea for female law students and young lawyers who are just starting to look for mentors. Many experienced female lawyers are willing to mentor young female lawyers, making sure they have everything they need in terms of resources.

If you are in the early stages of your law guardianship, you should consider this when choosing a law school. Which law schools have female professors who specialize in your field? Which law schools have a strong crop of female alums? Keep this in mind when making your final decision.

2 - Challenge Yourself

As a female lawyer, you already regularly have to deal with external challenges. While many external challenges are beyond your control, you can control how you respond. That said, the challenges for lawyers may be a little different from the challenges presented to those in other fields. For example, young lawyers may want to volunteer their services to challenge pro bono cases.

Additionally, suppose you're trying to challenge yourself while still in law school. In that case, you may want to focus on the internships you're applying for. Some internships are more challenging than others, and you need to make sure your resume shows that you're not afraid of a complex case. In addition, those still in law school should research several specialties before deciding what type of law to practice.

3 - Wisely Choose Your Specialty

As mentioned, many female lawyers are forced to specialize in types of law in which they are not interested. It is often done because those law specialties may be more associated with female lawyers. But the reality is those female lawyers can exercise any law, just as male lawyers would be. The great thing about trying out different specialties during law school is that you can feel more confident in your final decision.

Not all female lawyers will be drawn to types of law specialties that may be more emotional than other types of law. Incidentally, the reasons why women prefer certain specialties over others may differ. Some people believe in making a social difference and becoming a human rights lawyer. Others may be more interested in pursuing more lucrative specialties. 

For example, divorce law is very lucrative; with between 40% and 50% of all marriages ending in divorce in the United States, there is much employment among female lawyers in this field. It's acceptable for lawyers, women or otherwise, to pursue more lucrative fields. Studying law requires a lot of time, money, and education. You have to make sure that you do what you can to take advantage of it in every way possible.

4 - Expect To Be Underestimated

Exercising the law as a female has a significant advantage and a disadvantage. The competition often underestimates female lawyers. The law often revolves around debating and competing with others, whether the person across the aisle is a prosecutor or the representative of your ex. Clients. While it may be hard to accept being underestimated as a lawyer, you can take those who underestimate you and turn their flaws into your strengths.

For example, many older lawyers don't want to be seen as unkind to women or overly harsh on them. That means they might make it easy for you as a female lawyer initially. They may not make that mistake more than once after you beat them, but you should take advantage of the time they underestimate you.

There is no denying that female lawyers face more challenges than male lawyers do not experience. Female lawyers will almost certainly face sexism, and for that matter, they may feel frustrated and underestimated throughout their careers. But with these tips in mind, at least female lawyers can prepare for these challenges. With preparation, you can be ready for the worst challenges and ensure you succeed.

NFT Legal | What Are The Legal Issues With NFT (Non-Fungible Tokens)

NFT Legal  

Suppose you've been keeping up with technology news lately. In that case, you may have stumbled upon the latest hype in the world of distributed ledgers and cryptocurrencies: the rise of the non-Fungible token (NFT). 

It's an exciting development. For example, the World Economic Forum expects 10% of global GDP to be stored on the blockchain in six years.

The digital artwork Beeple was sold for $ 69.3 million. A virtual card of "Homer Pepe" (a mix of Homer Simpson and Pepe the Frog on a digital playing card) recently sold for $320,000. Nike has filed a patent that allows consumers to scan whether unique sneakers are genuine. The world is getting acquainted with NFTs. What are they, and what is legally interesting about these digital tokens?

What is an NFT?

NFT makes it possible to confirm the authenticity and (alleged) ownership of digital data (and any physical objects linked to it) using digital certificates. NFT stands for Non-Fungible Tokens. It is a method of tokenizing assets.

A token is a programmable digital unit of value stored on a blockchain. There are different types of tokens, and they can represent anything from coins to stocks, from goods to loyalty points.

Tokenization is, therefore, an act of recording a digital unit of value on the blockchain. The tokens can represent different things and adhere to different rules. Popular standards (the set of rules defined by the developer on which the nature of the token depends) for tokenization are the ERC-20 standard and the ERC-721 standard.

These standards can be used for different types of goods. ERC20 can be utilized for replaceable tokens or fungible tokens. Fungible goods are, by definition, exchangeable. It doesn't matter which specific item you buy or sell – Euros are convertible, just like silver, gold, oil, or grain. It doesn't matter which grain or euro coin you have: every item represents the same value.

The ERC-721 standard, on the other hand, is used for non-replaceable tokens, non-fungible tokens. Non-fungible goods are therefore not replaceable. The goods are unique. Think of a silver necklace or a painting, a signed book, or a football picture with the signature of the football player. It cannot be replaced by the unique creativity it has, or represented, or precisely by the unique signature it bears. The value is not in the item itself but in the uniqueness and authenticity it represents.

Goods tokenized with an NFT are thus digitally guaranteed uniqueness and authenticity. The NFT contains a cryptographic hash function. The blockchain can check the code so that the unique identity and ownership of the NFT can be determined.

The idea behind the NFT is that of scarcity. Non-replaceable, digital works can thus be traded with the notion that the value of the items lies in their uniqueness. Anyone can still trade the football tickets or copy the painting, but there is one unique digital version of that. The rarer the NFT, the more value. So just like the signature on the football ticket, the NFT itself is the signature of the content creator, making it scarce, unique, and valuable. At least, that's the thought.

Copied Digital Files

And that brings a lot of new possibilities that, at least in theory, can trigger a new revolution. Not just for registered property, real estate, or shares. But for basically every possible asset or digital file.

For example, digital files are, in principle, infinitely reproducible. A song, movie, image, in-game items, piece of text, or source code: it can all be copied. But who owns that digital data? Does the digital file belong to one owner, and the rest is an illegal copy of it? Or is it all self-contained data, owned by everyone? And what if you want to transfer a digital file – how do you know that the transferring party owns it and is authorized to transfer it?

This cannot be said with 100% certainty based on the digital file itself. This can be met with NFTs. NFTs can make digital files artificially scarce. A digital file can become 'unique and make it non-replaceable.

NFT Against Counterfeit Goods

But NFTs can also offer a solution in the offline world. Artworks, designer clothes, unique sneakers, collectibles. NFTs can be used to assess whether it is genuine or counterfeit. It infringes on trademark rights, design rights, copyrights, or patent rights.

Does an NFT provide a digital certificate of ownership and authenticity or just a receipt?

NFTs thus offer a kind of digital certificate based on the blockchain. Digital and physical objects can be verified for authenticity and ownership.

However, an NFT is not a digital title for the original. It does not give any actual ownership claim. It's just a receipt, a digital receipt, that you own a signed version of something—not the real thing itself. So while the idea behind the NFT is scarcity, this is just an illusory scarcity.

After all, whoever is the creator of the digital file tokenized in NFT might also make more copies of the work and sell these 'unique' versions. Although it dilutes the value of the NFT, if that copy has already been sold, it has no consequences for the original maker. In other words, more unique versions of the same resource can be created.

Anyone could tokenize a Picasso painting or an expensive pair of sneakers that you don't own with NFT. That doesn't mean you own the tokenized object in question. You only hold the digital certificate that you have linked to it. In short: perhaps you are not buying a unique item, but only a unique receipt.

Nevertheless, this offers countless possibilities. Not only for art, collectibles, or registered property but in fact, everything can be recorded digitally. NFT can also provide a particularly welcome solution for counterfeiting by rightsholders.

NFT Platforms

However, NFTs are not without risks. NFTs can be purchased and created online through platforms such as OpenSea, Rarible, SuperRare, Mintable, ThetaDrop, and KnownOrigin. As a holder of an NFT, you depend on the relevant platform for the sale of products. This is immediately referred to as vendor lock-in.

And that brings me to another problem. The networks are technical infrastructures and prone to hackers, corruption, scams, bugs, and human error. As with cryptocurrencies, various possible problems can lead to losing access to the NFT.

What if an NFT platform is "flat"? What if an NFT company steals your Ethereum and cannot be found? What if you save an NFT incorrectly? What if you have lost access to your wallet? What if your wallet has been hacked?

Moreover, the question is how rare a (digital) object actually is since it may be the only NFT on one blockchain but can also be tokenized on another blockchain.

Ownership Verification

If you ask me, there are still some challenges to making NFTs commonplace. As far as I'm concerned, one of the most important issues is verifying ownership. Based on the NFT alone, you cannot be sure that the object actually belongs to the person offering it on the aforementioned NFT platforms (or elsewhere).

I expect there will still be some claims related to the healing of objects by linking them to an NFT without that party actually being the owner of the actual object.

Money Laundering

Another problem, which also plays a role with cryptocurrency, is money laundering. The amount obtained can be justified by creating an NFT and buying or selling it with an anonymous wallet, despite the fact that the NFT was made with black money.

In short: NFTs seem like an excellent new development. However, I still see some legal snags before they could actually become commonplace.

What Are The Possibilities of Blockchain and Crypto Assets?

Blockchain And Crypto Assets

Blockchain and crypto assets have become an integral part of our digital economy. Utilizing the blockchain's distributed ledger, we have a technology that enables secure transactions, even between parties that do not know and do not trust each other. Trusted third parties such as banks or civil-law notaries have become superfluous.

 

Blockchain also provides excellent opportunities in terms of security and automation. Bitcoin is the best-known implementation on the blockchain as a virtual currency or cryptocurrency. We are also familiar with other crypto assets, such as Monero, Stablecoins, CBDCs, Privacy coins, governance tokens, utility tokens, and NFTs. In this Article see the possibilities of crypto assets and blockchain, and we keep a close eye on developments.

 

Blockchain And Crypto Legislation

 

Legislation is often not present, or only to a limited extent. Therefore, many parties involved in blockchain or crypto assets seek help setting up structures for companies or organizations in the tokenization of capital or wonder whether they need registration or license.

 

Exchange services and providers of custodial wallets may be subject to specific regulations, such as anti-money laundering legislation. 

 

Legal Qualification of Crypto Assets

 

How crypto-assets are legally qualified is of great importance in determining whether, and if so, how they can be transferred, encumbered, seized, or executed. Under contract law, the bitcoin system ("Bitcoin" instead of bitcoins) can be seen as an – implicit – multi-party agreement, the content of which is determined by the technology. It is likely that this also applies to other crypto assets.

 

From a property law perspective, bitcoins can be seen as a piece of software to which the MIT open source license applies. Others think that bitcoin resembles a 'thing' or an absolute 'property right.'

 

We have argued in the literature that bitcoins are a relative property right. The case law is not unambiguous. For example, bitcoins are regarded as a medium of exchange and ether as a good. On the other hand, bitcoins are considered to have characteristics of a property right. This qualification means that a claim for bitcoin payment in bankruptcy is eligible for verification.

 

Many people think differently about this; for example, it is argued that bitcoins are incorporeal goods. In Some Countries, the transfer of bitcoins takes place exclusively under contract law. In some countries, legislation is reportedly preparing to give cryptocurrencies property law status.

 

Another approach is to equate not so much the cryptocurrency itself but the carrier of cryptocurrencies (in which claims are embodied) with securities (bearer paper). But, so many wallets and so many crypto assets, so many approaches. The last egg has not yet been laid.

 

KYC For Crypto Wallets And Exchanges

 

Apart from the qualification of cryptocurrencies, some concrete laws and regulations can apply to cryptocurrencies. For example, anonymous transactions on crypto exchanges are prohibited under anti-money laundering rules.

 

Crypto wallets are also required to have a KYC ("Know your customer") policy. Because personal data is processed and many other anti-money laundering obligations may also apply.

 

Additional obligations also apply in some countries, such as a mandatory license from the local authorities and internal supervisory obligations. In addition, it may be mandatory to draw up a prospectus. 

NFT | What is NFT | What Are the Opportunities and Legal Challenges in NFTs

Non-Fungible Tokens - NFT

Bitcoin and many other digital currencies are becoming popular as we enter digitalized society. Many hold that cryptocurrencies will ultimately replace the traditional paper currency notes.

However, Bitcoin is the flagship cryptocurrency, another increasingly dominant commodity is NFT, which means the non-fungible token that is almost like a digital form of a collectable. 

Non-fungible Token (NFT) is now at the top of the topic among the digital world, soon after its introduction to the fastly developing and changing whole digital world. 

Background - NFT

NFTs came into the market in 2012, but it's grown and became popular in the crypto community in 2017 when Dapper Labs company started selling NFTs linked to unique cartoons digital cats known as Crypto-Kitties. At that time, people went crazy for these pretty digital kitties. 

What is NFT?

NFTs are blockchain that is based upon units of value or "tokens", which have a unique ID linked to an underlying digital asset. It's a cryptographic token that describes something that cannot be changed. NFT is a digital asset representing real-world objects such as music, videos, art, and in-game items. Ethereum blockchain is most commonly used for an NFT, but it is also held on many others blockchains. 

It is composed of software code in a "smart contract". The smart contract consists of details of the underlying physical or digital assets to which the NFT relates and the rights and rules attached to the NFT.

What Are the Opportunities and Legal Challenges in NFTs 

The digital assets known as "Non-fungible Tokens" (generally known as "NFTs") have gained significant public attention. They are presently one of the hottest topics amongst tech companies and legal advisors. There is no doubt that NFTs generate massive opportunities and can revolutionize whole industries such as the industry of:

 

• Art
• Media
• Entertainment
• Sports.

 

NFTs create new opportunities and markets for innovators, investors, brands, musicians, artists, and consumers. However, a wide range of legal challenges and issues can come into play depending on the intent of the parties involved and the structure of the asset.

NFTs Given that now lay the base for ownership rights and a new class of assets, a careful and thorough analysis of the underlying legal challenges is required from those who issue and sell/trade the tokens and those who will buy obtain them.

Here is includes Key Legal Challenges and Issues include how NFTs can be categorized: 

 

• Anti-money laundering
• Sanctions implications
• Intellectual property rights
• Cybersecurity concerns and;
• State laws governing virtual currencies. 

Finally, it remains to be perceived whether the NFT boom of 2021 will continue in 2022. If the NFT is here to stay, its use will assuredly lead to numerous interesting legal challenges.

Therefore, we suggest that NFT buyers and issuers must follow these developments thoroughly, as many regulators already have taken note of the growth of NFTs. We also expect the upcoming interesting copyright-related disputes to arise in the future that will give further clarity on how to deal with NFTs.