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Tonya M. Evans, Esquire, also known as Lawyer by day, Poet by night™, is an attorney at the Philadelphia law firm of Evans & Borden Evans, LLC. She practices in the areas of intellectual property (copyright, trademark, licensing), entertainment law (publishing, music), and estate planning (wills, trusts). Tonya and her law partner, Susan Borden Evans, who is also her mother, have developed a professional niche within the publishing industry, representing authors in the review and negotiation of publishing and subsidiary rights deals, and educating authors through seminars and workshops on self-publishing and literary law.
Tonya received a B.S. in communication studies from Northwestern University, which she attended on a full four-year tennis scholarship. Thereafter, she played on the women’s professional tennis tour for four years, competing most notably at the U.S. Open and Virginia Slims of Philadelphia in 1993.
In 1995, Tonya attended Howard University School of Law. She served as editor-in-chief of the Howard Law Journal and graduated with honors in 1998. She served as law clerk to Judge Theodore McKee in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and worked at large law firms before joining practice with her mother. Tonya is a member of the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, District of Columbia, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and Third Circuit Bars.
Tonya lectures across the country on copyright and trademark law, and on self-publishing and successful negotiations in the publishing industry. She has also contributed to Black Issues Book Review and QBR: The Black Book Review. In addition, she is an accomplished poet, performer, and writer. Her books include And Then One Day She Knew, Seasons of Her, and SHINE!
Susan Borden Evans, Esquire, received her B.S. from Howard University, with a major in chemistry and a minor in related sciences, and her M.Ed. and J.D. from Temple University. Susan is an intellectual property attorney in the Philadelphia firm of Evans & Borden Evans, LLC. She concentrates her practice in patent and trademark prosecution, and contract review and negotiation. Susan has successfully negotiated publishing agreements and licensing and sub-licensing agreements, and she has prosecuted hundreds of patent applications.
She is a former chairperson of the Intellectual Property Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association and a former president of the Barristers Association of Philadelphia. Susan lectures regularly across the country on aspects of intellectual property and publishing law, and is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar and the Patent Bar.
