NELP Client Spotlight

PS4e1: Public Speaking Training for Everyone

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In 2010, a semi-retired actress, teacher and entrepreneur approached the Neighborhood Entrepreneur Law Project (NELP) hoping to revive a business she had started twenty years prior. The entrepreneur had informally launched her Manhattan-based venture in 1990, a passion project that assisted singers, dancers and athletes in overcoming their stage fright. After partially retiring from acting and living on a fixed income, the actress sought to bring her former business back to life. And in keeping with the actor’s convention of playing a role, she decided to use a pseudonym as she rebuilt her business: Peitho, the ancient Greek goddess of persuasion and speech.

Peitho reached out to NELP in the fall of 2010 for pro bono legal assistance as she planned to broaden her client base by developing an interactive eLearning curriculum that would allow her business to reach clients from a wide variety of professions and worldwide. NELP connected Peitho with two attorneys from Dechert LLP: Partner David Rosenthal and Associate Victor Semah (who has since left the firm). They helped to ensure her business re-established itself on a sound legal footing, by applying for an Employer Identification Number, incorporating the business, and drawing up the company’s Articles of Incorporation and bylaws. In 2011, PS4e1 was officially incorporated.

As Peitho’s business moved forward, she sought additional legal assistance from NELP in order to protect her intellectual property through copyright and trademark. NELP placed Peitho with three Intellectual Property attorneys from Fitzpatrick Cella Harper & Scinto: Partner Frank A. Delucia, Jr., Associate Sachin Gupta (who has since left the firm), and Associate Whitney Meier. These attorneys provided Peitho with copyright and trademark assistance and succeeded in obtaining trademarks for the corporation’s name, PS4e1, and its slogan, “Expressing Yourself Matters.”

“Intellectual property rights play a large role in our business, as a great deal of what we consider to be valuable original content resides on our website for the world to see,” said Peitho. “We are very grateful to NELP for having introduced us to [the Fitzpatrick Cella attorneys] who so generously answered our questions and diligently made sure that this content is protected.”

As PS4e1 further evolved, Peitho attended one of NELP’s small business legal clinics for assistance with a Sales Agreement. Shortly after the clinic, her matter was placed with Albert Rizzo of the Law Offices of Albert Rizzo, P.C. for pro bono assistance in drafting the Sales Representative Agreement. Peitho, satisfied by the work of her pro bono attorney yet again, described the agreement as an “elegant and excellent template.”

Since first reaching out to NELP in 2010, PS4e1 has expanded its reach to provide services to people worldwide and has become attractive to new client bases. The company has built an online presence, increased its staff, and continues to develop an expanding series of interactive, illustrated eLearning courses. Most recently, the company published a Kindle eBook about the PS4e1 Method on Amazon: Broadway Actors Present The Public Speaking Guide For Everyone.

“With the help of NELP and the extraordinary lawyers they pulled like rabbits out of a hat, PS4e1, Inc. was launched. The original concept is no longer a mirage. It exists. And we at PS4e1 will forever be grateful to NELP for all it has given us and made possible,” said Peitho.

To learn more about PS4e1, please visit their website.

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