Are there any entertainment lawyers that charge under $50 an hour?

Law students are generally prohibited from offering legal advice. Which is probably just as well; you wouldn't want a law student to advise you on legal matters any more than you would want a medical student to operate on you. I doubt you will find any lawyer anywhere for less than $50 an hour. Of course, it may be that you have a potential claim in which you can make arrangements for the attorney to work on a contingency (although that would depend entirely on the particular matter). Good luck to you.

I cannot echo the other attorney's statements enough. Law students are not lawyers and cannot give legal advice. You should check your area for non-profits set up to support artists. Here in the Twin Cities, we have a great organization called Springboard for the Arts. They provide all kinds of support to help artists build the business end of their business: from referrals to attorneys (like myself) to healthcare vouchers. I am not sure if there is anything comparable in your area, but it can't hurt to check.

Yeah, don't hire students for legal advice. That's practicing law without a license - something which is illegal in every state in the country. I know my firm in California offers flat fee pricing for small matters, which would keep the costs down. You could look around New York to see if any firms offer similar pricing structures.

While I agree with the other respondents - as would any responsible attorney - I don't think they're being forceful enough in responding to what I assume is a sincere question. Law school is only 3 years of training, in which most law students, at best, work a few hours in a legal clinic as part of their training, under the strict supervision of a practicing attorney, mostly filling out fairly routine forms or handling simple administrative matters. Would you want a second- or third-year medical student, with virtually no practical experience and only classroom experience, operating on you? There may also be practicing attorneys who charge that little, but they'll be extremely inexperienced, and entertainment law is actually a very complex area - a combination of contract, copyright, trademark, employment, general business and corporate law (and occasionally tax, finance, labor, immigration and unfair competition law as well), and an understanding of the complex and unique business practices of the entertainment industries - including unions, insurance, accounting, and much more. Another factor is that many lawyers claim that they do "entertainment law," but they're really on the fringe of it, e.g., trial or tax lawyers, who have handled a few matters for some clients who happened to be in the entertainment industry. Another frequent pitfall is that people find any lawyer - their old college roommate who's now a litigator or an environmental lawyer - to handle an entertainment matter for them, or try to save money by doing it themselves or copying forms they find on the Internet or borrow from someone, but don't know that many of the terms have specific technical legal meanings (let alone what those meanings are). In the end, it usually winds up being far more costly to unwind all the mistakes that were made and redo the job properly - much more expensive than if the job had been done correctly the first time. Also, an experienced attorney (in any field) may be more expensive, but can usually accomplish a task in less time than a less experienced attorney (and do a better job), so the final savings in getting someone at a lower hourly rate isn't as great as it may first seem. Finding a bona fide entertainment lawyer to whom you should entrust your matters for under $50 an hour is extremely unrealistic - like looking for a surgeon who'll operate on you and, including hospital costs, won't cost more than $500. I know this isn't the answer you were hoping for, but better to know in advance how to see that your matter is handled properly and the potential pitfalls in trying to cut costs on your lawyer.