law ers in the arts
Laura Ashby: Lawyer and Playwright
B Laura Gary Ashby
Miller & Martin PLLC
What area of law do ou ractice
I m a litigator at Miller & Martin with a focus in intellectual
ro ert litigation.
bac ground as a la wright, musician
and erformer drew me to intellectual ro ert .
lashb @millermartin.com
I haven t ic ed u m guitar or done creative writing in a
while. That s wh I m so glad the Atlanta Bar Association
is celebrating law ers and artists and reminding us that we
can t forget about our creative side.
How long have ou been involved in our art
What artist (in or outside of our articular artistic endeavor)
do ou most res ect desire to be li e
When I was thirteen, I started la ing guitar, writing songs
and singing in a roc band.
introduction to the world of
intellectual ro ert law began when I a lied for co rights
for m songs. Writing songs to erform with roc bands
soon turned into writing songs to erform in roc musicals,
and in high school, I wrote a one-act roc musical called
Starstruc
This musical was ublished b Ba er s Pla s
and has been erformed b high schools throughout the
countr .
annual ro alties from m
ublished la
An where from 3 to 20 a ear this is wh I decided to
ut m assion for writing and erforming to wor in the
legal rofession.
Recentl , I saw The Book of Mormon, the Ton -award
winning musical written b Tre Par er and att Stone of
South Par fame. The musical is hilarious, and it reminded
me of the inds of musicals I li ed to write -- not our t ical
Rodgers-and-Hammerstein fare, but something different and
fun. Here are two gu s who did not ta e our t ical ath to
Broadwa and definitel did not ma e our t ical musical,
but the made something the loved that was hilarious and
ended u winning Best usical. I res ect their irreverent
humor that ended u conquering the mainstream, and even
if I don t desire to be li e them, I ho e to see more of their
musicals
What benefits do ou rea from our art
bac ground in la writing has been ver hel ful in
litigation. Pre aring for trial is a lot li e writing a la .
You ve got our cast of characters, our heroes and villains
(de ending on who ou re re resenting), and our theme
that ties it all together. That s exactl what ou need to
write a la . And although I m a unior associate who hasn t
had the o ortunit to ut on a trial et, I find m self using
m la writing s ills in ever thing from ta ing de ositions
(crafting m questions to get the witness to res ond exactl
the wa I want -- in other words, feeding them their lines) to
drafting motions (deciding on a theme earl on and telling
a com elling stor , even in a discover motion, can be ver
hel ful). But the main rofessional benefit I ve rea ed from
m la writing bac ground is the abilit to sit in front of
com uter, t ing, long into the night.
How do ou balance our art and wor life
As a oung attorne , the balance between art and wor
has swung dramaticall in favor of wor . Unfortunatel ,
The Of cial News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association
Laura at Disne World on October 1, 2011
for her wedding.
November 2011
THE ATLANTA LAWYER
11