Sports Law

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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1.800. 973. 1177

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.