What: 14th Annual Fordham Sports Law Symposium

When: Friday, March 26, 2010 (8:30 a.m. – 4:35 p.m.)

Where: James B.M. McNally Amphitheatre (map)

Cost: Free (as is Harvard’s event). NYS CLE credits may be attained for $85 ($50 for Fordham Law alumni & public interest attorneys). CLE Credits: 6 non-transitional, professional practice. Contact: CLE Office Telephone: 212 636-6945 Fax: 212 636-6984 Email: cle@law.fordham.edu

Agenda:

8:30am-9:00am Registration

9:00am-9:30am Welcome and Opening Remarks

• CASSIE MULLMAN – Managing Editor, Fordham Sports Law Forum

9:30am-11:10am Panel 1: The Changing Face of Sports Licensing

• Moderator: GABRIEL FELDMAN, Associate Professor of Law and Director, Sports Law Program, Tulane University Law School
• JEFFREY CAREY, General Counsel, American Needle
• MARC EDELMAN, Assistant Professor, Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law; Founder and CEO, SportsJudge.com
• MEIR FEDER, Partner, Jones Day
• IRWIN KISHNER, Partner, Herrick Feinstein LLP

11:10am-11:15am Break

11:15am-1:00pm Panel 2: The Legality and Impact of Age Restrictions into Professional Sports

• Moderator: TIMOTHY LIAM EPSTEIN, Chair, Sports Law Practice Group, Smith Amundsen LLC; Adjunct Professor of Sports Law, Loyola University Chicago School of Law
• ROBERT MARKS, Vice President of Basketball Operations, New Jersey Nets
• MATT PACE, Counsel, Herrick Feinstein LLP
• FERNANDO TAMAYO, International Scouting Coordinator, Boston Red Sox
• JOHN VOLPERIAN, Host, “Beyond the Game”

1:00pm-1:45pm – Lunch

1:45-2:45 – Keynote Address

• JOHN P. McENROE, Of Counsel, Paul Weiss Rifkind Garrison and Wharton

2:45pm-2:50pm Break

2:50-4:35pm Panel 3: The Future and Evolutions of Sports Salary Arbitration

• Moderator: BETH SCHWARTZ, Clinical Associate Professor of Law, Director of Professional Skills
• JESSICA BERMAN, Associate Counsel, National Hockey League
• JON R. FETTEROLF, Partner, Williams and Connolly LLP
• ADAM LUPION, Senior Associate, Proskauer Rose LLP
• MEL SOUTHARD, Principal, Excalibur Sports, Inc.

When: Friday, March 26, 2010 (12 p.m. – 8 p.m.)

Where: Pound Hall at Harvard Law School (map)

Cost: Free (my favorite price)

The theme for the symposium is “Operating in the Shadow of Upcoming Collective Bargaining Negotiations.”  Each of the panels and the keynote address will shed light on the key issues facing each league as it approaches the expiration of its collective bargaining agreement.  In addition to discussing the key issues that will need to be resolved to avoid a labor stoppage in each league, the symposium will explore how the labor uncertainty is affecting current operations within each league, and how any sort of a labor stoppage might affect the short-term and long-term interests of each league.  In exploring each of these issues, the participants will draw from their varied backgrounds to fully understand what is at stake for the leagues, teams, unions, players, and other entities close to the game.  The agenda seems to mirror that of the 2010 UF Sports Law Symposium.

Schedule:

Sports Legacy Institute Kickoff Luncheon (12:00-1:00 – Pound 334/335)

• Chris Nowinski, President and CEO, Sports Legacy Institute
• Sean Morey, Arizona Cardinals
• Isaiah Kacyvenski, Retired NFL Player
• Christian Fauria, Retired NFL Player
• George Atallah, Assistant Executive Director for External Affairs, NFLPA
• Moderator: Professor Peter Carfagna, Harvard Law School

NFL (1:15-2:30 – Pound 101)

• Adolpho Birch, Vice President of Law and Labor Policy, NFL
• David Feher, Partner, Dewey & LeBoeuf
• Neil Cornrich, President, NC Sports
• Sarah Stuart, Senior Counsel, Reebok
• Moderator: Professor Michael McCann, Vermont Law School

NBA (2:45-4:00 – Pound 101)

• Jeffrey Mishkin, Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom
• Hal Biagas, Executive Vice President of Management, Wasserman Media Group
• Michael Zarren, Assistant General Manager and Team Counsel, Boston Celtics
• Matthew Hong, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Turner Sports
• Robert Tilliss, CEO, Inner Circle Sports
• Moderator: Professor Peter Carfagna, Harvard Law School

Keynote (4:15-4:45 – Pound 101)

• Robert Manfred, Executive Vice President for Labor Relations, MLB

MLB (5:00-6:15 – Pound 101)

• Daniel Halem, Senior Vice President, General Counsel for Labor, MLB
• Derek Jackson, Vice President and General Counsel, Florida Marlins
• David Prouty, Chief Labor Counsel, MLBPA
• Timothy Slavin, Assistant General Counsel, MLBPA
• Joseph Rosen, Partner, Brown & Rosen
• Moderator: Jimmy Golen, Associated Press

Reception (6:30 – 8:00 – Austin West Rotunda)

Besides the competition, I also worked on numerous tasks for Dynasty this week. Darren has been putting in work to sign a top NFL prospect for marketing purposes. Along with the other interns, our task was to design a marketing plan in order to show the prospect exactly what Dynasty had to offer him in terms of marketing. My part involved a lot of research relating to competition and why, despite competition, Dynasty was the best option for the player.

In addition to the marketing plan, I contacted several companies regarding sponsorships for our clients. I also contacted other companies specifically to work out endorsement deals for three of our bigger baseball clients. I received responses back from a few of these companies. The response I received was quite normal, the standard “we’ll take a look at what you have given us, make a decision and get back to you as soon as we can.” Other companies have not responded yet. For some of these companies, they had no contact information for individuals that would be helpful to me, so I had to send emails to their generic email accounts. For those that don’t respond to me, my next step is to call the phone number listed and ask for someone in the marketing department.

The best advice I can give on this matter is to keep pressing to find the correct contact person and then just made an honest proposal. The worst they can do is say “no.” The best is that you get a great deal for your client. At the very least, maybe you make a contact that you can use in the future. With the economy still recovering from recession, it won’t be easy to find sponsorship deals for clients. However, if you at least make contact, when the time is right for the company to start spending money on sponsorships again, you might be at the top of their list.

In addition to these tasks, I did my regular tracking of college baseball players. There are a few guys on the list having stellar seasons and hopefully they make the right decision to go with Dynasty. One note on this assignment, I have one or two high school players to track as well as college players and I find it is incredibly hard sometimes to find stats for these kids. This week I did manage to contact one of the player’s coaches. He was very receptive and quick to respond with stats. He had no problem with me contacting him weekly to get stats on the player. If all coaches were this receptive to agent interns, it would be great.

I am ending this week working on two other side projects. I am researching a few prospects that were passed along to Darren as referrals to see if any have draft potential. I am also putting together a compilation of stats, highlights and a biography for one of our players to be sent to someone with ties to Japan. Hopefully it works out and our player can start a new chapter to his career.

So until next week, Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone.

Perhaps it is in my genes.  My mother received her Masters degree from the prestigious Teachers College at Columbia University, and has been a teacher my entire life.  I have taken tests that say my strengths lead me to a job as a mentor.  I love academia, even after 7 years of school, but I am not interested in going for a Masters degree and will probably pass on attempting to go for a PhD.  Will a JD and good experience in the sports industry be enough?  We shall see.

I have spoken to a few schools, mostly in the state of Florida (because that is where I really prefer to live), about teaching at their institutions next year.  Thus far, I cannot complain, as it seems that there may be a few good fits.  Optimally, the opportunity would be for something in South Florida, but I’m open to going somewhere as far north as the Orlando/Tampa area.

How could I complain with a job as a professor?  I would be allowed to continue to research, be a positive influence on others, stay young, earn money, gain benefits (like insurance), and create value for others.  Additionally, it would continue to allow me to focus ample time on my company, while allowing me to become more of an “expert” in my field.  I have thoroughly enjoyed speaking at various law schools at their sports symposiums as of late, and I have already committed to quite a few future events.  I would love to stay in the classroom setting, and teaching seems like the perfect fit.

While Dynasty is not in the red, and finding a side job is not necessary at this point, my desire to teach is not nearly all about money.  As you can tell from the points mentioned above, my happiness is based on something larger than the amount of money going into my pockets.  In fact, I will be heading to Jupiter, FL very shortly in order to watch my client, Pete Parise, hopefully have another successful day on the mound.  Things like seeing Pete do well and teaching others who will succeed based on the advice I provide, mean more to me than hundred dollar bills.

On September 4, 2008, I decided to take a look at the law schools that some of the industry’s best have attended in the past.  This week, BitterLawyer.com decided to take the task one step forward, ranking the top 11 agents who have gone to law school.  I have to thank the website for mentioning my name and this site in their article.

Ranked at the top of the list is Drew Rosenhaus, who went to Duke University School of Law.  He is followed by Scott Boras, who graduated from University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law.  Up next are the two men behind CAA Football (Tom Condon – University of Baltimore and Ben Dogra – St. Louis University Law School).  Rounding out the top 5 is Arn Tellem, who went to University of Michigan Law School.

The comments in the post make note that most of the agents listed went to a TTT.  UrbanDictionary.com sheds some light on what TTT means (I have changed it around a bit to make it appropriate for this site).

Third tier toilet. Generally used as a pejorative term for law schools that are not prestigious, aka Top 14 law schools. To certain people, a law school is either a TTT or a Top 14 school, there is no in-between.

Vanderbilt Law School is ranked #17 according the US News and World Report, but it is still a TTT because it isn’t in the Top 14; it doesn’t matter how close a school’s ranking is to the top 14, if it is not in the Top 14, it is automatically a TTT.

I wouldn’t look too far into why many successful agents did not go to a Top 14 law school.  The only thing I would say is something I have always believed in – Going to a top school may open up some doors that would not normally exist; however, going to a top school does not guarantee success.  And TTT schools have produced MANY successful people.

It is definitely symposium season.  The newest information about a symposium has been brought to me courtesy of the Seton Hall Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law.

What: Seton Hall 2010 Sports & Entertainment Law Symposium

When: Friday, February 26, 2010 (9 a.m. – 5 p.m.)

Where: One Newark Center, Newark, NJ 07102 (map)

Cost: Students (Free), General Public ($25), 5 NYCLE Credits ($100) – Registration page

Specifically, this event will examine the National Football League’s Rooney Rule, discuss financial and estate planning for athletes and entertainers, and consider the bankruptcy and relocation issues related to the Phoenix Coyotes bankruptcy litigation.  Click the image below to get a better view of the agenda.

What could possibly be better than learning Sports Law during the day and having five course meals at night?  A few days ago, NFL agent and attorney, Ralph Cindrich, passed on some information about a Sports Law program he is participating in (as an instructor), which will be held in Florence, Italy this upcoming Summer.  It is being hosted by his law school alma mater, South Texas College of Law and will take place between June 27 and July 16.

A total of four credits are being offered, broken up into two classes: International Amateur Sports Law and International Professional Sports Law. These courses are an effective complement to the first year of law school study because they build on concepts learned in constitutional law, tort law, and contract law. They expose students to key differences between the European and North American models of professional and amateur sports, as well as the international legal environment of Olympic sports. These comparisons and contrasts allow students to gain a more nuanced understanding of the “globalization” of law.

Mr. Cindrich and Catherine Greene Burnett, Associate Dean and Professor of Law at South Texas College of Law, will serve as the faculty. The courses have been approved by the American Bar Association. You must have completed at least one year of law school to be eligible for the program, which anticipates a student body of about 25 total.

More information, including the cost and the actual application for enrollment is provided in the embedded attachment below.

What: DePaul University College of Law Sports Law Symposium: Sports and the Great Recession

When: Friday, February 12, 2010 (check-in = 8-9 a.m.)

Where: University Center at DePaul University (map)

Panels will explore how the recent economic downturn has affected sports leagues and teams, and how it will affect them going forward.

9:00 A.M. – 10:20 A.M. – Leagues and Venues Panel

• Moderator: Michael Jacobs, Distinguished Research Professor, DePaul University College of Law
• Natara Holloway – Director of Corporate Development, National Football League
• Jon LeCrone – Commissioner, Horizon League
• Brad Traviolia – Deputy Commissioner, CFO and COO, Big Ten Conference

10:30 A.M. – 12:00 P.M. – Teams Panel

• Moderator: Howard Rubin, Associate Professor/Associate Dean, DePaul University College of Law
• Gabrielle Dow – Vice President of Marketing, Baltimore Ravens
• Martin Greenberg – Member, Greenberg & Hoeschen, LLC
• Mike Lufrano – Senior V.P., Community Affairs/General Counsel, Chicago Cubs
• John Mack – Senior Associate Athletic Director, Northwestern University
• Marti Wronski – Vice President, General Counsel, Milwaukee Brewers

1:00 – 2:30 P.M. – Academic Panel

• Moderator: Bill Savage, Senior Lecturer, Northwestern University
• Michael McCann – Associate Professor, Vermont Law School/Legal Analyst, Sports Illustrated
• Matthew Parlow – Associate Professor, Marquette University Law School
• Geoffrey Rapp – Associate Professor, University of Toledo Law School

Cost (Registration Form):

• DePaul College of Law Students & Faculty: Free
• Other DePaul (Non-Law School) Students, Faculty, Staff: $15.00
• Non-DePaul Law School Students: $20.00
• DePaul College of Law Alumni: $30.00
• General Attendee (CLE Credit pending): $60.00

What: 2010 Tulane Law School National Baseball Arbitration Competition

When: January 22-24, 2010

Where: Tulane University Law School. Map.

The Tulane Law School Sports Law Society has been busy inviting law schools to compete in the 2010 Tulane Law School National Baseball Arbitration Competition. I received an email invite last week, asking if my school (University of Florida Levin College of Law) would be interested in attending.

The Baseball Arbitration Competition is a simulated salary arbitration competition modeled closely on the salary arbitration procedures used by Major League Baseball.  Each team will represent either the assigned player for that round or the team for which that player plays. The goal of each round is to determine the salary for that player for the upcoming season by persuading the arbitrator(s) that the position advocated for is more appropriate.

The competition assumes that each party has previously submitted their final offer, and that good faith negotiations have concluded.  Each problem will include these final offers; the competitors’ objective is to persuade the independent arbitrator, through both a written submission and through oral arguments, that the offer tendered by their client is the most appropriate compensation for that player.  Players used for this competition will, barring unforeseen circumstances, be actual Major League Baseball players eligible for salary arbitration in that year.

The deadline for registration is 5:00 p.m. on December 15.

Cost: $150 per team (2-3 people per team. Only 2 people may participate in any single round).  Schools may bring up to 2 teams.  Click here to register.

Competition Website | Competition Rules

Wow, that was a long paragraph.  But after almost 2 1/2 years of law school, I can now confidently say that I will graduate with a better understanding of the best practices in representing talent, and that I will have an edge over my counterparts who never put in the 3 years to attain a J.D.  I did not write that statement with the intention of denigrating anyone’s intellectual capacity, and there are plenty of amazing sports agents who have had tremendous success in scrupulously representing their clients.  However, I do believe that there is a lot to gain by going to law school, especially in the realm of learning how to effectively negotiate (which really cannot be learned by just reading a book).

There are a lot more sports agents (A LOT MORE) than there are General Managers in their respective sports.  While not every agent has had the proper education necessary to effectively negotiate on behalf of his client, you better believe that every GM knows every trick in the book, whether it be from formal education or years and years of experience.  Mark Warkentien, VP of Basketball Operations for the Denver Nuggets, is one of those expert negotiators.  During Summer, he spent a week at Harvard Law School in order to enlarge his arsenal of negotiation tools, and shared some of his wisdom with Ian Thomsen of SI.  Some important points he talks about are:

• The need to know what your counterpart is going to say before you sit down at the negotiating table.
• Find points of agreement before starting the negotiation.
• Make your counterpart justify his interests and positions.
• Face-to-face negotiations beat phone/email/fax conversations.
• Showing emotion often does not help you in progressing your position.
• Be flexible in negotiations.
• Don’t talk down to your counterpart.
• Never use the word “but”.

I have learned all of those bullet points, minus the very last one.  However, it is definitely an interested point, and one that I may take into consideration when altering my own negotiating style.  This is how Warkentien describes Harvard Law School’s justification for scrapping the word “but” from negotiations:

“When you say, ‘I hear what you’re telling me, but …’ what you’re really saying is, ‘Go to hell.’ That word — ‘but’ — comes across as if everything the other guy has just said doesn’t matter.”

As a side note, I will be speaking at Barry University School of Law exactly a week from today.  If you are in Orlando, please join the discussion next Monday at 12 p.m.  Contact Thomas M. Schoendorf for more information.