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Quinn Heraty is principal of the law firm Heraty Law PLLC. Heraty Law started in 2002 and is celebrating its lucky 13th anniversary this month (January 2015). Our clientèle includes media professionals (television, publishing, audio, journalism), conferences, roller derby leagues, artists, designers, performers, tech builders, activists, and one very famous, very derpy dog. I can say, without reservation, that Heraty Law has the best clients of all time. They build things, they warp expectations, they set new standards, they create, and they agitate. I am honored to be able to help them do their thing(s).

What’s your historical Los Angeles and New York connection?
I am admitted to practice in New York and California. I spend most of my time in NYC, but I travel to LA and SF often.

Describe your experience in LA and your experience in NYC
I love both LA and NYC. They both have copious amounts of creative energy and world-class food. They are also physically beautiful in very different ways, which can be summed up by these two photos:

In NYC, I walk (or take the subway) almost everywhere. It’s very easy to get around, and you can do multiple meet-ups with very little effort. In LA, you can have a business meeting while you’re hiking in Griffith Park. How great is that?

What was the biggest challenge of moving from NYC to LA?
I live in NYC but I spend a fair amount of time in LA. The biggest LA challenge I’ve had relates to streets & directions. Much of NYC (especially Manhattan) is on a grid of coordinates, so directions can be as straightforward as “31st & 3rd” – sort of like the old game Battleship.

LA, on the other hand, has streets that look like they might be straight, but then they veer off on a tangent at a certain point. I feel like I have a mental map of LA in my head, now, but I still double my estimated travel time whenever I drive to meet someone, to compensate for the possibility of taking a wrong turn somewhere – and because of the infamous LA traffic.

How can NYC and LA best engage with each other?
I would love to see conferences and networks do similar events in both NYC and in LA. If there were some “core connectors” at both the NYC and LA events, then I have no doubt there would be some beautiful crosshatching of NYC-LA opportunities. I do my best to personally bridge the gap and make those connections happen. For example, I send NYC opportunities to LA people, and LA opportunities to NYC people. And one of my clients, BinderCon, is a writers’ conference that debuted in NYC in October of 2014. While Leigh and Lux, the co-founders, were doing their initial planning, I encouraged them to do a similar event in LA, and I recently introduced them to some LA people who are now involved. BinderCon LA will be at UCLA on March 28-29, 2015.

Favorite LA secret spot
Neither of these are secret, but right now my favorite LA spots are the Mt. Hollywood Peak in Griffith Park and the Korean bathhouses off of Olympic. And Stories Books in Echo Park has great events.

Favorite NYC secret spot
All the nooks and crannies along the waterfront, especially getting up-close-and-personal with them during The Great Saunter.

What would you be doing if you weren’t working on what you are?
I would probably be a publisher.

Inflight Entertainment: tell us what song/album, TV show, podcast, or web videos you’ve been watching lately.

Literally inflight: these are the movies I watched at 30,000 feet on my last NYC-LAX-NYC trip: Happy Christmas Land Ho! Love is Strange Edge of Tomorrow, and This Is Where I Leave You. On the ground, over the past month: Selma (2x – once in LA and once in NYC) Inherent Vice, Mockingjay Part 1, and Birdman.

The podcasts I’ve been enjoying lately are: “Call Your Girlfriend” (by clients Aminatou Sow and Ann Friedman), “Curious City” (founded by client Jenn Brandel), “OtherPpl” (in particular, the Wendy C. Ortiz and Meghan Daum episodes), “The Mental Illness Happy Hour” with Paul Gilmartin, “New Tech City” with Manoush Zomorodi (shout out to Ariana Tobin, who works on New Tech City and wrote this article about women’s pockets), “The Tobolowsky Files” with Stephen Tobolowsky, “Nocturne” with Vanessa Lowe, “Dear Sugar” with Cheryl Strayed, “StartUp” with Alex Blumberg, and many, many more.
From the 2462 Miles newsletter: connecting NEW YORK CITY + LOS ANGELES