Linda Graham Alvarez

Linda Alvarez has helped me negotiate contracts with literary agents and New York publishers. Through her facilitation, I was able to learn what my agent's and publisher's visions, missions, aspirations, and values were. And they were able to learn mine. Instead of sitting across the table from each... other in adversarial positions, Linda's methods brought us to a round table where there was no "head" and where we sat side-by-side. Through our discussions we were able to learn *why* each of us wanted (or didn't want) certain clauses in the contract. This dialog allowed us to tweak some language here and change some language there so that each party was comfortable moving forward. Also included in the discussions/contracts were plans for how we were going to handle any "disagreements" that might arise. The way the Discovering Agreement is written, it has both parties committing to review the other person's vision, mission, and values. Therefore, instead of our first response to conflict being to slap a down a lawsuit, our first response is to sit back down at that round table and *talk* about our concerns to see if we can work them out. This was a revolutionary experience for me. I'll never again sit across the table from someone I'm preparing to enter into business with. We all need to be on the same side. Linda Alvarez made this not only a reality, but a pleasure.

We've recently finished our first project with Linda, where she helped us understand international trademark protection issues & strategies, and then coordinated the whole project of registration in multiple territories; she took care of the US filings herself, and then sourced and managed the proces...s with local attorneys for other jurisdictions. She clearly knows her stuff, and interfacing with her was always a pleasure; I look forward to working with her on our international licensing agreements next.