By Rashaan S. Williams
The general counsel from each of New Jersey’s major pro sports teams participated in a panel last month, where they discussed their day to day duties, expectations of outside counsel, and breaking into sports law.
Panel Members included: Williams Heller, the Senior Vice President and General Counsel of the New York Giants; J. Carlos Kuri, the General Counsel of the Redbulls; Brad Shron, the Executive Vice President of the New Jersey Devils and the Philadelphia 76ers; and Hymie Elhai, Vice President and General Counsel of the New York Jets.
The event was sponsored by the New Jersey State Bar Association’s Entertainment and Sports Law Section.
Shron began the conference by stating that the biggest difference between being an outside counsel and general counsel is that as a general counsel you are a lot closer to the action.
Therefore, the job is more exciting. Shron also believed that the work is harder because there is more work to do. Put simply, Shron said: “It is a different beast, but a great beast.” As an outside counsel, Shron continued, there is not much of a difference between any other corporate job, but the only difference is that the client is in the sports industry.
Bill Heller believed that his biggest challenge going from outside counsel to becoming an in house lawyer was “living with the client.” Another challenge for Heller when he arrived at the Giants as a General Counsel was that the employee handbook consisted of only four pages, He stated that he also had to push the team to provide sexual harassment training to its employees.
On the topic of conflict between team goals and league regulations, J. Carlos Kuri stated that there is not much conflict because the MLS a single entity structure. However, Kuri added that sometimes healthy competition exists between the league and individual teams. Kuri added that his job consists of lobbying on behalf of the team to the league’s legal department.
As to of stadium issues that may arise, Elhai said that the Jets’ current stadium is shared by the Giants and Jets, and is a separate corporate entity that is owned by the teams equally. Elhai added, however, that the old Giants stadium deal was not ideal because the teams were required to have the state of New Jersey to sign off on all sponsorship deals. Further, he added that the Giants and the Jets have a unique relationship because they are both business partners and competitors, but the teams share all stadium sponsorships equally. According to Shron, any issues that may arise between the teams are usually just a matter of lack of communication. Kuri added that stadium and operations issues are resolved by understanding inner workings of the team’s insurance policies. Specifically, the team’s Commercial General Liability Policy.
Breaking into the Sports Law Industry
When asked how to break into the sports industry, Elhai who started as an intern with the Jets’ marketing department, stated that initially he wanted to be an agent. He quickly realized, however, that being an agent may not be the most “honest and trustworthy work.” Heller first became involved in sports law while working at a large law firm who serviced the Giants. He received an assignment with the Giants, and when he received the opportunity to do more work with the team, he ran with it. Thereafter, he stated, that it was just “dumb luck” that helped land a position with the team. Kuri started his career in a traditional career at a law firm.
Subsequently, he and his wife moved to Los Angeles, California so he could work with the law firm of O’Melveny and Mayer. While at O’Melveny, he jumped at an opportunity to work with the Red Bulls. Kuri provided the following insights for lawyers attempting to break into the sports law:
First, they need to be really humble;
Second, he advised, they will not get rich being a general counsel for a sports team; and
Finally, when they see an opportunity, they have to take it.
Shron added that hard work and good fortune is all it takes to break into sports law. He cautioned, however, that they had to make their own opportunities. Additionally, he believed that they had to network and “work their butts off.”
On the topic of what characteristics they look for when hiring an outside counsel attorney, Shron began by stated that outside counsel business is competitive because there are many smart and dedicated attorneys available. As a result, outside counsel needs to be hardworking and trustworthy.
