1. 800. 973.1177
CAREER COUNSELOR’S CORNER
Sports Law [ Erica Winter] This legal arena is more than just a game. Attractive to a large number of attorneys but open to only a select few, sports law is the holy grail for many practicing lawyers. How exactly do you break in? We talk to those who have to find out.
The name of the game.
Lawyer.)
and think to yourself: “Wow, I wish I could do
First, before we tell you all about this field
Some legal jobs in sports are very, very hard
that”?
and give some tips on how to get into the
to come by - such as being an in-house coun-
When you watch sports, do you watch the athletes, admire their strength and skill,
When you are watching the summer Olym-
race if you are still up for the challenge
sel for a professional team. Most legal jobs
- some definitions.
that involve sports clients also involve clients
pics this August, and see an athlete jump thirty feet in the air with only the aid of a long
from other industries - and lawyers that do There’s no such thing as “sports law.”
pole, or do a flip with a full twist on a balance beam with no safety net, or run faster than
a few things very, very well. Here’s a look at what “sports lawyers” actually do.
Sports is a kind of business, like the Wash1. Represent an event.
you usually drive on local roads, will you
ington Redskins football team or a league
think, “Wow, I wish that was me”? Or, “Ugh,
like Major League Baseball. It is also the
I’m fatter than I thought.” Or maybe, “That’s
career field of an individual, like Martina
John Garda is a trial attorney, and he loves
insane! And probably painful! I could never
Navratilova, who played tennis (now retired),
horseracing. His family owns some race
do that!”
or Ron Jaworski, a former quarterback for
horses, and his law firm, Hughes and Luce,
the Philadelphia Eagles football team.
Dallas, has worked on some high-profile
Or, will you think: “I wish I could be her lawyer.”
sports transactions - including the sale of Sports is not a set of cases and regulations,
the Dallas Mavericks basketball team and
like tax law or intellectual property law,
the building of the American Airlines Center
If it’s the last one, you are not alone. In fact,
points out Eric Reifschneider, with Cooley
in Dallas.
many law school career services counselors
Godward’s Palo Alto, Calif., office. Sports is
say that entertainment law and sports law
an industry that involves a wide variety of
All of those factors combined to make
are the two most popular specialties among
businesses and individuals.
Hughes and Luce the Dallas law firm chosen
law students just starting out.
to represent the Breeders’ Cup, says Garda. So, there is no such thing as “sports law,”
The Breeders’ Cup is an annual series of
Law students (along with lots of other
just like there is no such thing as “cof-
eight horse races all run on one day that
people) see the sports world as glamorous
fee law.” Sports law is, in reality, just an
will be held this fall at the Lone Star Park in
and exciting, and they want a legal career
umbrella term to describe the legal needs of
Grand Prairie, Texas, just outside of Dallas.
to match, say career counselors. Some who
owners, players, and organizations that are
This is the first time the Breeders’ Cup will
are eager for this career change their minds
involved in sports.
be held at that track.
after discovering the glories of tax law, immigration law, or public service law. Some
These legal needs vary widely, and provide
While his firm was not involved in bringing
try to break into the field for a few years, and
a window into the reality of practicing law
the race to Dallas, says Garda, Hughes and
then move on to something else. These jobs
for sports clients, as opposed to the dream
Luce was chosen to serve as local counsel
are hard to get.
of glamour that many imagine (possibly due
for the Breeders’ Cup by the Lexington,
to confusing the jobs of being a lawyer and
Kentucky firm that represents the race event
But, as every athlete knows - just because
being an agent, which we will look at in detail
overall.
something is hard to do doesn’t mean it’s
later).
impossible. And there is more than one way to get into this game.
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Hughes and Luce will serve as legal counsel Ah, the things you can do. (A Horse and His
for the Breeders’ Cup and handle legal is-
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1.800. 973. 1177
CAREER COUNSELOR’S CORNER
sues that relate to the running of the event,
Ed Ristaino, with Akerman Senterfitt, Miami,
cular. The potential buyer can rationalize the
says Garda, an alumnus of Notre Dame Law
represents the Miami Dolphins football team,
price of the 7-11 store based on its financial
School, South Bend, Indiana. Garda’s legal
the Florida Panthers hockey team, and has
performance.
practice consists mainly of accounts liabil-
worked with the Florida Marlins baseball
ity litigation; he represents many business
team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers football
The NFL is not required to give prospec-
dispute clients. Because of his firm’s back-
team, and the Homestead Miami Motor Sports
tive buyers this form. The league gives the
ground in dealing with sports issues, Garda’s
Complex.
potential buyer financial information, but
trial experience, and his connection to horse
“ultimately, the buyer decides [whether or not
racing, he finds himself practicing law in the
The legal work Ristaino does includes buy-
to buy] both with and without those numbers,”
sports arena.
ing and selling franchises for owner clients,
says Ristaino. In addition to the different
protecting the intellectual property of teams,
financial structure of a store and a football
This career model is one way into the game:
doing licensing and trademarks, and working
team, there is the publicity that he new owner
Lawyers working mostly with non-sports
on stadium financing. Ristaino is an alumnus
will have, which brings an enormous change
industries in firms that have some sports
of Notre Dame Law, South Bend, Indiana, and
to their lives.
business clients.
has been practicing for 20 years.
1. The legal issues surrounding the Breeders’
Ristaino’s career is living proof that there is a
has actively pursued sports clients and made
Cup could include, first, the rules and regula-
very wide range of legal work that can be done
it clear to his firm that this is the industry he
tions of the Texas Racing Commission, a state
within the sports business.
wants to work with. Aside from being an in-
The industry-focused career model: Ristaino
regulatory body with rules particular to Texas,
house lawyer with a specific team, Ristaino’s
says Garda. The commission’s rules may not
Bankruptcy Law: companies that own stadi-
legal career is the closest to being all about
mesh with the guidelines of the Breeders’ Cup
ums sometimes go bankrupt, says Ristaino.
sports.
race itself. So, if the commission’s require-
There is the former Enron Field in Houston as
ments and the race’s rules do not match,
the most obvious example, he says. Also, Pro
Ristaino started out doing transaction work for
Garda and his partners will work to get any
Player Stadium in Florida was owned by Fruit
a client, a businessman who was interested in
required waivers from the commission in
of the Loom, which went bankrupt. Lawyers
sports. The client decided to make an invest-
order for the races to be run.
for the teams and companies need to know
ment as a minority shareholder in a football
about bankruptcy law to serve their clients
team. When the team went up for sale, the
well.
client decided to buy ownership control, and
Garda’s firm will also handle any lawsuits that
became the owner of the Miami Dolphins.
are filed involving the race and its participants. These cases could involve advertising
Immigration Law: this probably would not
disputes, questions over which horses can
spring to mind as an active area in sports,
Even if you cannot achieve total sports satura-
run the races, and efforts to prevent specific
until you think about the Canadians on hockey
tion in your job, that doesn’t mean you can’t
horses from running.
teams and the Latin Americans and Asians
work with sports clients at all. You may even
on baseball teams, says Ristaino. And there
end up as a vital player without even looking
2. Be outside counsel - for a team owner, a
is a special sports twist: work visas can take
for the game.
player, a team or a league.
time to acquire. A team’s lawyer needs to know both immigration regulations, which are
Kenneth Adelson, a partner with Cooley
Instead of representing an event, you could
highly complex, and also the team’s schedule,
Godward, San Francisco, does real estate
work in sports law by having a corporate client
so that the players can get to spring training
litigation and commercial litigation. He is also
who just happens to buy a sports team. Or, you
on time.
one of the people credited with keeping the
might represent a corporation whose business
Oakland A’s baseball team in Oakland.
is sports, like the National Football League.
Franchise Law: this is, and is not, the same
You could also handle legal issues for a spe-
as franchising a 7-11. When a person or group
The Oakland A’s play in Network Associates
cific team. Or, handle a large commercial deal
buys a sports team, says Ristaino, they are
Coliseum, which the team leases from the
for one player.
getting that league’s franchise. If you buy a
city of Oakland. In the late 1990s there was a
7-11 store, the 7-11 corporations is required
dispute over the licensing agreement, which
to give you all the information you need via a
went into arbitration.
Or you could do most of the above.
specific form, called a Uniform Offering Cir-
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CAREER COUNSELOR’S CORNER
One of the issues at hand involved the Raid-
worked on the issue at all.
ers, the town’s football team. Oakland is still
neider and Climan came up with the equation, ran it through a spreadsheet, and calculated
one of the few cities in which the football and
Our Seventh-Inning Stretch.
the answer for every pro team in the four
baseball teams play in the same arena. The
Yes, work is important. But since this is also
major sports leagues.
late 1990s saw the Raiders return to town
an article about sports, let’s take a moment
after a 13-year sojourn playing in Los Angeles.
for pure sports enjoyment. Then we’ll talk
The Rangers were “off the charts” in their fu-
The stadium was improved for the prodigal
about your job some more.
tility, says Reifschneider. The team’s 44-game losing streak before a Stanley Cup win in the
football team, but promised improvements for baseball never materialized. The dispute
As a junior associate at Katten, Muchin &
mid-1990s was “far and away the most amaz-
was on.
Zavis in Chicago (now KMZ Rosenman), Eric
ing streak,” says Reifschneider. The Red Sox
Reifschneider was able to work on some
were pretty badly off, but their quest for glory
Adelson, who was brought on board because
player contracts for the White Sox baseball
is not as futile as the Rangers.
of his real estate expertise, worked with an-
team. The firm’s client roster included the
other partner at Cooley Godward, Christopher
Chicago Bulls as well.
Westover, who was representing the Oakland A’s owners at the time.
In baseball, the Chicago White Sox and Cubs also have highly futile aspirations. The Cardi-
Currently with Cooley Godward, Reifschneider,
nals football team (which was first in Chicago,
a Harvard Law grad who has been practic-
then in St. Louis, and currently in Arizona) is
One of the provisions in the ballpark’s lease
ing for 12 years, now handles technology
the “most pathetic” in its futility, says Reifsch-
was that, if the current owner wanted to ter-
licensing and other transactions. He also, on
neider, a St. Louis native.
minate the current lease and negotiate a new
occasion, works on endorsement contracts for
one, then the owner was required to offer the
professional athletes, and deals for acquiring
Now, let’s get back to work. Next, here’s the
team up for sale to other interested buyers at
sports franchises. Reifschneider’s real claim
law job that will give you a career that is com-
a discount, says Adelson.
to sports fame, came about in 1998, when he
pletely devoted to sports:
and the head of Mergers and Acquisitions at The A’s owners did this, and one of the inter-
Cooley Godward, Rick Climan, had an argu-
ested buyers would have moved the team out
ment about sports.
3. Get hired by a team in-house. Teams hire lawyers. Professional teams in the
of town. Specifically: whose team’s quest for glory was
four major sports leagues based in the United
Luckily, Major League Baseball did not ap-
the most futile - the Boston Red Sox baseball
States (men’s hockey, basketball, baseball
prove the prospective buyer, the owners were
team or the New York Rangers hockey team?
and football) have in-house counsel, just like
able to renegotiate their lease, and the team
Climan said the Rangers were the most hope-
many corporations and some larger nonprof-
stayed in town.
less, and therefore he had the most right to
its. Being an in-house counsel is probably the
claim suffering. Reifschneider said that the
most immersed you could be in sports, pro-
The Right-Place-Right-Time career model:
Red Sox were the most futile, and that he had
fessionally, as a lawyer practicing law (again,
Adelson, like Garda, works with a firm that
claim to this dubious honor.
not being an agent).
Climan and Reifschneider were not daunted
An in-house counsel would work on any legal
by the challenge of comparing two teams from
issue involving the team, including: player
works with some sports clients, and was tapped for his expertise in a specific area. Yes, it was fun and different to venture into
different cities, playing different sports. Nor
contracts and union negotiations, stadium fi-
legal work with a baseball team, says Adelson.
were they satisfied with letting the issue go
nancing and construction, the sale of the team
“Sometimes we would hold negotiations at the
unanswered. And so they created the Futility
to new owners, or moving the team to a new
ballpark, and we got to know some interesting
Index.
town, just to name a few. Your job would be sports, sports, sports, all the time. Which is
people,” he says. Adelson has been practicing
great - if you can get the job in the first place.
law for 35 years and is an alumnus of Boalt
The Futility Index, Reifschneider explains,
Hall School of Law at the University of Califor-
is a mathematical formula showing exactly
nia at Berkeley.
how hopeless it is for any one team to win its
There are about 120 teams in the four main
league championship. The equation involves
professional leagues, and some of those
Adelson never sought out sports clients. It
past team performance, and number of teams
teams are in Canada. So the pickings are
was “utter happenstance,” he says, that he
in the league, among other factors. Reifsch-
already slim. And these teams, despite being
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1.800. 973. 1177
CAREER COUNSELOR’S CORNER
well-known to many, are not actually big busi-
like many sporting events, divine intervention.
nesses, points out Reifschneider.
Still, lightning does strike, athletes win gold
4. “Do something you are passionate about,”
medals at the Olympics, and sports teams do
says John Garda, “if it’s sports, that’s great.”
hire lawyers…
To get into doing law for sports clients, focus
The New York Yankees baseball team, for example, probably has about $500 million
your job-search on firms that handle sports
in revenues, predicts Reifschneider, which
1. “Get lucky,” says Ed Ristaino. Start off
makes it a small-ish company in the business
getting some experience under your belt. If
world. And most pro sports teams do not even
someone has just spent millions buying a
5. “Presume that’s never going to be the only
come close to that kind of capital, with most
sports franchise, she does not want a lawyer
thing you do,” says Eric Reifschneider. You will
batting at the $100 million level.
who is learning as he goes. Work on getting
likely work with clients in many industries, in
general commercial and litigation experience,
addition to sports.
Each of these professional sports teams has
says Ristaino, both are very valuable. “Learn
one, maybe two in-house counselors on staff.
your craft, be skilled,” he says.
That comes to about 200 lawyers nationwide. Putting it in perspective: pro sports teams
Then: tell people what you want. “Expressing
probably have more towel-boys than lawyers.
your desires is always good,” says Ristaino. When starting out, he let it be known that he
Does the job ruin the fun?
wanted to work with sports clients. This is where the luck comes in. If you are lucky, your
At one time, Ed Ristaino estimates, he went
firm’s clients will say ‘I was thinking of buying
to 42 hockey games, 81 baseball games and
a ball club.’ And then your firm’s partners will
10 football games in a single year. He bought
say ‘You should talk to Jane, she knows all
his own tickets, declining to even sit in his law
about that.’ And you’ve just gotten your start.
firm’s box seats. This way, clients “see your commitment to the sport, and the team,” he
2. “Get in with the club,” says Ristaino. Go to
says. He loves watching the games.
the major leagues or the minor leagues and get any kind of entry level professional posi-
Does handling legal issues dull the joy of
tion. Do group ticket sales, sell advertising.
horseracing for John Garza? “Not at all,” he
Learn the business from the ground up. Most
says.
successful sports lawyers he knows started out this way, says Ristaino. Then you move up
Working on legal issues for teams and play-
the ranks and become a general counsel for
ers has left Eric Reifschneider “as big a fan
the club, or an executive.
as ever,” he says. Working on the business side of sports has only made the games more
More Advice.
interesting. 1. Take a trademark course in law school, recWhen Reifschneider helped with drawing up
ommends Ed Ristaino. And don’t forget, aside
contracts for White Sox players in Chicago, he
from a few nuances, you could substitute any
worked on the contract of a player who is still
other business for sports, and you would still
with the team, Frank Thomas. Reifschneider
be practicing the same types of law.
recalls watching games during that time, thinking then, “in some small way, I’m part of
2. Don’t think that you will spend all day at the
his being in this game.”
stadium, hanging out with the players, says Ristaino, because you won’t.
How to get this job. 3. There is nothing wrong with the minor There are two ways to get a job practicing law
leagues, Ristaino adds; it could be a good
in the sports arena, and both of them require,
place to get your start.
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cases already.