Zane Tannir

Spring 2024 Law Clerk

Rice University

Columbia Law School

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Zane is a senior at Rice University and heading to Columbia Law School in the fall. He hopes to use his financial background to pursue a legal career in either mergers and acquisitions or securities regulation.

Zane is a senior at Rice University and will be attending Columbia Law School in the fall.

He has a B.A. in Economics with a special interest in finance, and has worked in venture capital, oil and gas, and artificial intelligence. He hopes to use his financial background to pursue a legal career in either mergers and acquisitions or securities regulation.

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About Me

Zane is a senior at Rice University and will be attending Columbia Law School in the fall.

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My Clerkship Diary

Week 1

My first week with Lloyd & Mousalli was great. At first I was nervous, as this is my first legal clerkship and I’m not even in law school yet, but the nerves quickly faded. Everyone I’ve spoken to at the firm has been so nice and welcoming and that really helped me relax and settle into my role. I learned about how to bill from both Destiny and Megan and am now ready to bill my hours like a true law firm employee.

Task 1

My first task was assigned to me by Megan. I was asked to choose a topic that I’d like to cover in a 60 second legal video for the firm’s YouTube channel. Narrowing down what I’d like to speak about was tough, but I ultimately chose to cover trade secrets, as I wanted to spend some time learning about an IP topic that could be relevant to my future assignments while also making a video on a legal topic many business executives may not fully understand. Learning about trade secrets from various legal sources was extremely interesting, as I had learned about the concept from the perspective of a business through accounting classes I’d taken throughout college, but now I understand the concept from the perspective of the law as well. This was a great introduction to the work I’ll be doing for the firm, and I’m very excited for the assignments I’ll receive the coming week.

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Advice

Don’t be shy or afraid to ask questions. Megan, Allie, Lema, and everyone else at the firm is ready to help, and they know that although you are an employee, you are also a student and here to learn. This was my first time being exposed to a lot of legal concepts, and although I thought my questions were silly or something that I should already know, my colleagues answered them with no hesitation or judgment and made me feel as comfortable as possible.

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Week 2

Things have started to really pick up this week. I attended my first deliverables meeting and met a lot of the other employees at the firm, who were of course all wonderful people. I also attended my first court hearing, which was a temporary injunction hearing for one of Lema’s clients. The hearing was super interesting to watch and I left with a lot of questions which Lema was happy to answer.

Task 1

My first task is to work with Beth to write an article on best HR practices for small businesses, particularly disputes. I spoke with Beth to pinpoint which topics I should focus on in the article and we settled on performance issues, employee grievances, and allegations of harassment or discrimination. The article is coming along nicely and Beth has been more than helpful throughout the process.

Task 2

My second task is another article Megan asked me to write regarding the importance of business owners making sure their M&A deals conform to the agreed upon closing conditions. This article is inspired by a recent case in Delaware in which a buyer was able to walk away from a deal because of a small $210,000 claim by an ex-employee which technically violated the closing conditions and blew up the $250,000,000 deal. I was really glad to receive this assignment because M&A is the area of law I’m most interested in, and I really appreciate Megan for remembering this and assigning work that will help me learn more about this area.

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Task 3

My third task is a third article, this week was the week of articles! This article is about Equity Incentive Options for LLCs, which was inspired by a client interested in such options. This has been very interesting to work on, because I did not know that LLCs could not offer basic incentive option plans and other options would need to be used to compensate employees in such a manner. Again, this is something I’m really interested in learning more about because I really enjoy business/financial law and I really appreciate being able to work on such assignments.

Advice

Get familiar with Slack and use it to meet the other employees at the firm. If you’re looking for something to work on, have a question about an assignment, or just want to learn more about something, reach out to one of the attorneys or paralegals on Slack.

Week 3

This week was mostly a continuation of last week in terms of tasks. I finished the 3 articles I worked on last week and submitted them to Megan. More importantly, this week I was able to meet a lot more of the other employees at the firm. I went to lunch with Megan and Destiny and got to meet them in person. I also spoke with Feras for the first time over google hangout and received some great big picture advice for my career. I also attended a couple client meetings and saw some of the amazing work the firm is doing both in the US and abroad.

Task 1

My first task was to review the article on best HR practices for small businesses with Beth and incorporate her suggested edits. This did not take too long, as I had already mostly finished the article the previous week, however it was very important because I used her recommendations when writing my other 2 articles which I hadn’t written much of yet.

Task 2

My second task was to write the equity incentives and the M&A closing conditions articles I was assigned last week. These took a lot longer than the best HR practices article because the subject matter was a lot more complex and necessitated a lot more research. However, these articles were very fulfilling to write, and I ended up learning a lot about the way both business and deals are structured.

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Advice

Learn to enjoy what you’re doing. At first it might seem difficult to balance working on assignments for your clerkship while also dealing with your academic assignments and extracurricular activities. However, I’ve been approaching my clerkship assignments much more enthusiastically than my academic assignments because they are actually about things that interest me. This approach has turned my clerkship assignments into a sort of break from my academic assignments, which has made balancing them with my other work a lot more manageable and fun.

Week 4

This week was relatively light in terms of workload, which was nice since it coincided with a break I had from school and allowed me to catch up on sleep and school work. I also used it as an opportunity to reach out to the attorneys at the firm. I set up a meeting with Isaiah which I’m especially excited for since he comes from a venture capital background like myself.

Task 1

My task this week was to put together a memo which provides a step by step summary of what we need to prove in order to be successful in a UDRP complaint. This is an exciting task as it’s geared towards IP which is a nice change of pace from the mostly M&A work I’d been doing earlier.

Advice

Take some time to smell the roses. You’re working hard to achieve your goals, be proud of the work you’re doing and how far you’ve come. Smile, remind yourself that you’re doing great, and try to have some fun. Meet your coworkers outside of the workplace. I had lunch with Destiny and Megan a couple of weeks ago and that was great, and I have a lunch with Beth coming up this week. A great thing about L&M is how friendly your coworkers are and how willing they are to give advice, take advantage of those opportunities and make new friends and gain some valuable advice!

Week 5

This week was a pretty busy one. I started off the week attending an M&A consultation with Megan which was very interesting to listen to. I also had a meeting with Isaiah on Thursday where we discussed his career path from law to venture capital and back to the law. Friday, I went to lunch with Beth and got to know her better which was very fun and a nice break from work.

Task 1

My first task this week was to review a Memo issued by the FTC regarding Proposed Amendments to Trade Regulation Rule on Impersonation of Government and Businesses. I first helped Mac determine the deadline for comments on the proposal and then reviewed and suggested changes to a terms and conditions agreement drafted for one of our clients in light of the coming heightened liability.

Task 2

My second task this week came from Megan. She asked me to review an existing independent contractor agreement for a prospective client and compare it to our ICAs to see if there are any important differences and things we need to change in their agreement. I’m very much enjoying working on more transactional matters as of late.

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Advice

My advice this week is to keep track of your obligations. I know this seems like obvious advice, but there are a lot of tools at our disposal nowadays that we aren’t taking advantage of. Google calendar is a great way to see all your upcoming meetings, but I also like to keep a simple page in my notes app where I list all my upcoming assignments in order of priority. I also like to set an alarm on my phone the day of an important meeting just to make sure I don’t forget about it and remember to dress appropriately if I won’t have time to go home after I finish classes at my university.

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Week 6

This week was a fun one. I got to go up to Columbia to visit the law school which was a nice break from Houston, and I was able to manage my work very well while there.

Task 1

My first task this week was to finish up the ICA assignment from last week. This took longer than expected because the client’s ICA was so poorly written and needed a lot of changes. I then met with Megan and Mac on Thursday to talk about the ICA and the changes that need to be made. This was a great look into employment law and I learned a lot during my meeting with Mac.

Task 2

My second task this week came from Megan and Marlene. They asked me to do some researchand find everything there is to know about Facebook Gaming for a potential client. This was a lot of fun for me since I’m a big fan of gaming and streaming. I found a ton of opinions on the platform on Reddit which provided very valuable insight into both streamers and viewers thoughts on Facebook Gaming. I really enjoyed combining my personal hobbies with my career interests during this assignment and I’m hoping I can work more on more assignments related to this client in the future

Advice

Start planning for the future. Part of the value of an internship is the insight you get into a careerand industry. See which areas of law interest you the most. Do you like litigation or transactional, M&A or patent? What type of assignments do you like the most? Take advantage of this opportunity to narrow down your focus for the future.

Week 7

Not a very busy week this time around which was fine since it gave me time to catch up on school work before spring break.

Task 1

My first task this week was to help Isaiah draft a simple agreement for future equity (SAFE) for one of our clients. This was really interesting as it was my first time drafting a contract and gave me a lot of very valuable insight into structuring businesses

Task 2

My second task this week came from Megan, who asked me to write an article about protecting board games using intellectual property law. This assignment came in at the end of the week soI haven’t finished it yet, but so far it’s been a pretty fun application of the law.

Advice

Make sure you’re getting enough sleep. A big part of the legal field is attention to detail, so you always need to be awake and alert to catch any small mistakes that tired eyes would be likely to miss! I try to get at least 7 hours of sleep every night to make sure I’m well rested and ready to do my best work on each assignment.

Week 8

This week was my spring break, so I flew to Lebanon for the start of Ramadan to visit my family.It was a pretty busy week in terms of work, but it came at the right time since I didn’t have classes taking up my time. I also met Amy for the first time and learned a lot about trademark law with her over a Google meeting.

Task 1

My first task this week was to write an article for Megan about legally protecting board games using intellectual property law. This was a really cool assignment since I was able to apply all that I’ve learned so far about intellectual property law to a unique and fun topic.

Task 2

My second task this week was to write an article for Amy about the importance of conducting thorough searches for similar trademarks. This was a great learning experience as I was able touse everything I learned about trademark law during my meeting with Amy as well as the sources she provided on trademark law and trademark search training.

Advice

Have a healthy diet. While fasting, I realized how tiring it can be to work on an empty stomach. Obviously I can’t do anything about that during Ramadan, but as long as you’re not fasting make sure to eat your 3 meals a day so that you have the fuel to work on your assignments andbe productive. A healthy diet will ensure your body has the nutrients it needs for you to think efficiently and not feel tired or lazy due to an overload of unhealthy carbs or fats.

Week 9

The second to last week of the clerkship is upon us. The last 2 months flew by, and I am incredibly grateful for everything I learned in my time with L&M and all of my amazing coworkerswho have taught me so much.

Task 1

This week was more of a maintenance week. Destiny and I received a lot of feedback on old drafts of assignments, so I spent my time going back through those assignments and editing them based on Megan’s comments.

Advice

Exercise! Exercise is a great way to decompress and take your mind off your obligations. Whether it’s walking, running, playing sports, or going to the gym, do something that gets your body moving. Not only will this improve your physical health, but also your ability to think and process things.

Zane Tannir - My Experience

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Zane is a senior at Rice University and heading to Columbia Law School in the fall. He hopes to use his financial background to pursue a legal career in either mergers and acquisitions or securities regulation.

What’s a Rich Text element?

Static and dynamic content editing

How to customize formatting for each rich text

About Me

My Clerkship Diary

We are accepting applications for Law Clerk.

Interested in a clerkship with L&M?
We are accepting applications!

More team members

Matthew Merolla

Christyna Bruzzone

Tyler Golian

Alec Goodrich

More clerk diaries

Michelle Kung

Christyna Bruzzone

Tiffany Lam

Kimberly Seiler

Got a question or matter to discuss?

Zane Tannir - My Experience

Watch Video

Zane is a senior at Rice University and heading to Columbia Law School in the fall. He hopes to use his financial background to pursue a legal career in either mergers and acquisitions or securities regulation.

What’s a Rich Text element?

Static and dynamic content editing

How to customize formatting for each rich text

About Me

My Clerkship Diary

We are accepting applications for Law Clerk.

Interested in a clerkship with L&M?We are accepting applications!

More team members

Matthew Merolla

Christyna Bruzzone

Tyler Golian

Alec Goodrich

More clerk diaries

Michelle Kung

Christyna Bruzzone

Tiffany Lam

Kimberly Seiler

Got a question or matter to discuss?

Interested in a clerkship with L&M?
We are accepting applications!