Today we’d like to introduce you to Ursula Langford.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
The love for what I do started in early childhood, but for the sake of brevity, I will start with life after getting my undergraduate degree from The University of Georgia. I moved to Dallas, Texas and worked in the Promotions Department for three prominent radio stations.
While there, I organized and facilitated station in-studio and remote promotions as well as brought to fruition many of the stations’ concerts. This job afforded me the opportunity to connect with actors, recording artists, record label executives and so many others in the entertainment industry. After being laid off due to downsizing, I decided to marry my to passions, the law, and entertainment and moved to Michigan to attend Michigan State University College of Law. While in pursuit of my law degree, I channeled my energy into networking and throwing parties in the music industry. After graduation, I moved back home to Atlanta, Georgia and began the journey of becoming an Entertainment Attorney relying mainly on the industry contacts I had made from working in radio and law school.
I started my own practice but things were REALLY slow. I was blessed to land a job with a sole practitioner, Noreen Banks-Ware who not only trained me to become a great and well-respected lawyer but also allowed me to continue my passion of being an entertainment attorney on the side. I eventually left the firm and went full-time with my own firm handling family law matters for entertainment professionals as well as performing negotiation contracts. My first big break came when I assisted actress Tami Roman in recovering back child support and representing her in a television show contract. After that, the word was out, and the referrals came. I went on to recover an enormous amount of money from former NFL players with back child support obligations. My network expanded to include my target market where I was blessed to negotiate a few tv and film contracts, and the rest was history.
Fast forward, in 2016 I wanted more from creative side and started Focality Productions, a film and television production company that develops content in-house and for others.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road and I have never let that stop me. When I enrolled in law school, my daughter was 10-months old. I made the hard decision to incorporate my beautiful family into my dreams and they helped me raise my daughter in Georgia while I was in Michigan. It was sooo hard.
Other obstacles included getting people to trust me with their dreams as entertainers when I was fresh out of law school and building a powerhouse law firm while vowing to be a very present and active mom in my child’s life. I had to really learn balance, priorities and again trust my village. I think I have found the special formula.
Harris Law and Focality Productions – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Harris Law is a boutique entertainment law firm that focuses primarily on contract negotiations for all facets of the entertainment industry, brand development, business development, copyrights, and trademarks. We also handle some family law matters for entertainers and for former spouses/significant others of entertainers.
Focality Productions is a film and television production company that develops content in-house and for others.
What sets both of my companies apart is that not only do we perform exceptional work we seek to always educate our clients. I guess you could say we are a teaching law firm and production company. I am also proud of the attention that we give to each and every client. Our client list is very selective because we are determined to provide superior work and service as well as educate and we want to be accessible to our clients. I am proud of our client list and client selection process. Yes, a selection process. Why? We do engage clients on a one-time and sporadic/as-needed basis but we like to serve clients with long-term multi-faceted plans/goals or clients who are open to exploring other avenues so that we can assist them in developing an extensive and diverse portfolio of multiple income streams.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
There are so many because I am so proud of ME. But, if I had to choose one, first and foremost passing THE GEORGIA BAR EXAM!! Other than that, I would say it was when I called a well-respected actress, whom I had work worked with briefly in the past and asked her to be a part of my client’s project. After hearing my pitch, she, without hesitation, agreed. She followed up “anything for you”. Every moment is a proud moment when I call on industry heavyweights or anyone in my network to assist me or my client and they happily agree, To me, this speaks to my reputation, work product, work ethic, integrity, and my energy.
Contact Info:
- Address: 3645 Marketplace Blvd., Suite 130-737
Atlanta, GA 30344 - Phone: 678.487.7117
- Email: ursula@harrislawllc.com
- Instagram: ursula_esq and legally_urs
- Facebook: legallyurs
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