Sports Law Practice Group

Featuring a rare combination of sports agency, business litigation, and corporate law experience, attorneys in our Sports Law Practice Group excel in identifying and understanding the unique issues that sports-related legal matters present.  Such extraordinary collective experience enables the team to provide full-service representation for the Practice Group’s clients, which include athletes, sports agents/agencies, and coaches. 

Members of our team have enjoyed incredible success, including obtaining the second largest raise of any player through the baseball arbitration process for 2008 and obtaining a one-year contract in excess of $7 million for former Colorado Rockies’ third baseman
Garrett Atkins in 2009.   

The Sports Law Practice Group has expertise in a wide-range of sports law related matters, including the following:

Antitrust Litigation

• Claims relating to relocation of sports franchises, intellectual property matters, and NCAA issues.
• Baseball antitrust law exemption.
• Nonstatutory labor law exemption.

Baseball Arbitration

• Representation of athletes.
• Advice, statistical analysis and case preparation for agencies.

Contract Negotiation

• Negotiation and drafting of all types of sports-related contracts, including employment agreements, personal service agreements, independent contractor agreements, licensing agreements, endorsement agreements, and settlement agreements.

Corporate Formation/Transactions

• Guidance and formation of business entities (partnerships, limited liability companies, S and C corporations).
• Drafting and negotiating all types of contracts utilized by the business.
• Drafting and negotiation of business acquisition agreements, including acquisition or sale of business through stock or asset sale or merger transaction.
• Advice pertaining to private placements and other exempt securities offerings.

Employment Agreements

• Negotiation and drafting of employment agreements between sports agencies and agents, including allocation of fee tails between agents and agencies, covenants not to compete, and non-solicitation clauses.
• Negotiation and drafting of coaching contracts, including liquidated damage clauses.

Estate Planning

• Drafting of trust agreements, wills and health care directives.

Family Law

• Drafting prenuptial and postnuptial agreements.
• Divorce and child support litigation and issues surrounding salaries of athletes.
• Negotiating and drafting divorce settlements.

Intellectual Property

• Cybersquatting issues.
• Trademark and copyright infringement.
• Right of publicity issues.

NCAA/CIF Rules

• NCAA and CIF eligibility matters, including CIF Appeals.
• NCAA Athlete-Agent rules.

Publishing Contracts

• Negotiation of publishing agreements.

Real Estate

• Negotiation of lease agreements, including protection for athletes who may need to break the lease early due to a trade, promotion, or demotion.  
• Litigation related to lease agreements and purchase agreements.

Tax Matters

• Tax audits of athletes, including residency issues, deductions of meal money and other job-related expenses, and duty day issues.