Sports Litigation Alert Current Issue
Here’s the latest issue of Sports Litigation Alert, the nation’s only subscription-based periodical reporting on the intersection of sports and the law. We also publish 11 other sports law periodicals. Visit hackneypublications.com to learn more.

Case Summaries
School District May Be Liable for Negligence Independent of Coaches’ Vicarious Liability
By Gary Chester, Senior Writer A basic principle of tort law and agency law is that an employer may be found vicariously liable for the negligent acts of its employees. But can a school district be held liable for the death of a student-athlete when the coaches...
Claim of Title IX violation for Eliminating Men’s Gymnastics Denied by Federal Court
By Courtney L. Flowers, Ph.D. is an Associate professor of Sport Studies at Texas Southern University A federal judge from the District of Minnesota denied a former University of Minnesota student-athlete’s motion for preliminary injunction to reinstate the men’s...
Basketball Player’s Products Liability Claim Against Nike Falls Short
A federal judge from the Eastern District of New York has granted Nike Inc’s motion for summary judgment in a case in which a man playing in a recreational basketball game fell and injured his knee, then sued the sporting goods manufacturer and other defendants for...
Court Grants Summary Judgement for Amusement Park in Slip and Fall Case
The Supreme Court, Suffolk County has granted summary judgment to the defendant in a slip and fall accident at the Splish Splash at Adventureland water park. The plaintiff is an adult who stepped into a pool and struck her foot on a suction grate, sustaining a...
Tennessee Court of Appeals Deals Final Blow to Initiative that Would Have Created Another Arena in Memphis
The Tennessee Court of Appeals (at Jackson) has affirmed the ruling of a trial court that a group of plaitniffs seeking to build a 6,200-seat arena and other structures lacked standing to pursue a declaratory judgment, which would have prevented the defendants –...
Articles
Coach Marlene Stollings’ ‘Request’ for Reinstatement as Head Women’s Basketball Coach at Texas Tech is Granted – Well, Almost
By Professor Robert J. Romano, JD LLM, St. John’s University, Senior Writer On October 20, 2020, former head women’s basketball Coach Marlene Stollings filed a lawsuit against her previous employer, Texas Tech University in the U.S. District Court, Northern District...
Diagnosing CTE in the Living—Researchers and the Medical Community Inch Closer to the Goal Line
By Jessica Rizzo and Dylan Henry, of Montgomery McCracken When Antonio Brown disrobed in the middle of a Tampa Bay Buccaneers game this January, threw his clothes into the stands, and ran off the field, many rushed to play “armchair doctor,” publicly speculating that...
Examining Non-Binary and Transgender Advancements from the Perspective of a Non-Binary Athlete and Activist
What follows is an interview conducted by Carla Varriale-Barker, the chair of Segal McCambridge’s sports practice group, ofLauren Lubin April (they, them), a non-binary athlete and activist who has been on the forefront of non-binary and transgender advancements in...
Horse Doping Drug Supplier Convicted in Manhattan Federal Court
By John T. Wendt, J.D., M.A., Professor Emeritus, Ethics and Business Law, University of St. Thomas As part of the massive crackdown on doping in horseracing and resulting Federal Indictments,[1] Lisa Giannelli, an eighteen-year employee and sales representative, for...
Trailblazing Labor Contracts End U.S. Women’s Soccer Players’ Equal Pay Lawsuit
By Patrick L. Egan & Ryan C. Chapoteau, of Jackson Lewis The U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF), the governing body for international soccer in the United States, and the unions representing the women’s and men’s national soccer teams, U.S. Women’s...
Everything You Need to Know about the NIL and International College Athlete Issue
LEAD1 recently hosted a webinar where immigration attorneys at Akin Gump discussed current immigration law, implications on NIL, how the law applies to NIL, workaround opportunities, and possible federal solutions to address the issue. When the NCAA implemented its...
Grizzlies’ Zach Kleiman, a Sports Lawyer, wins 2021-22 NBA Executive of the Year Award
Zach Kleiman, 33, has overseen Memphis' basketball operations for the last 3 years and becomes the youngest winner of the award. NBA team basketball executives have selected Memphis Grizzlies Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Zach...
Veteran Sports Lawyers Chuck Baker and Irwin Raij Join Sidley
The shakeup in the sports law industry continued last week with news that Sidley Austin LLP had brought in Charles “Chuck” Baker and Irwin Raij as partners and co-chairs of its Entertainment, Sports and Media industry group. Baker has joined in New York and Miami,...
An Interview with a Sports Law Attorney: Lacey Mencl, Associate Attorney for the National Women’s Soccer League
By Darby Daly, Co-President of the Buffalo Sports & Entertainment Law Society As a young associate attorney for the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), Lacey Mencl has proven that she is already a force to be reckoned with in the sports industry. Mencl entered...
News Briefs
Hogan Lovells Helps USA Rugby in Its Successful Effort to Bring the World Rugby Cup to the United States.
The World Rugby Council has unanimously voted to officially select the United States as the host nation of the 2031 Men’s Rugby World Cup and the 2033 Women’s Rugby World Cup. Hogan Lovells partner Michael Kuh, who has a market-leading sports event acquisition...
Gross McGinley Lawyers Form Sports Law practice
The Lehigh Valley Business has reported that four attorneys at Gross McGinley LLP in Allentown, PA have formed a sports law practice at the firm. Each of the attorneys are former student-athletes, according to the paper. Their decision was reportedly connected...
Two Key Employers Takeaways from Professional Sport’s Continued Adoption of Crypto and Blockchain Technology
By Phillip C. Bauknight, Joshua D. Nadreau, Adam F. Sloustcher, and Tam D. Vu, of Fisher & Phillips. As cryptocurrency and blockchain technology continue their way into the mainstream, one key industry that stands out for its adoption of blockchain technology is...