Very few of us can manifest our dream job right out of college. Count Jill Ingels one of the lucky ones.
While attending Marquette University Law School (MULS), where she graduated cum laude (2017), Ingels knew what she wanted – working the general counsel’s office of the Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA.
Eight years later, Ingels, who was a recipient of a Sports Law Certificate from MULS’ National Sports Law Institute, is the Vice President of Legal and Business Operations at Milwaukee Bucks and Fiserv Forum.
It wasn’t a direct path to that lofty perch. Rather, she began her legal career in collegiate athletics as an Assistant Director of Athletic Compliance for the University of Southern California. Shortly thereafter, she became Staff Counsel for the Miami Marlins, before finding her home with the Bucks in December 2019 as Associate Counsel. Her mercurial rise to a leadership position followed.
To learn more about Ingels, we conducted the following interview.
Question: What was your big break in becoming a sports lawyer?
Answer: I was fortunate enough to have a few internships within the sports industry in law school and had supervisors who were incredible teachers and mentors to me, but my big break in becoming a sports lawyer has to be when I was hired by the Miami Marlins as Staff Counsel. Stephanie Galvin and Ashwin Krishnan, now with the Dallas Cowboys and Major League Soccer, respectively, believed in me and showed me what it means to be a truly effective, efficient, and overall successful in-house counsel. I cannot say enough good things about both of them – they have completely different personalities yet are both incredible lawyers and advisors. They were so well respected at the Marlins, and I am not sure they will ever truly appreciate how large of an impact they each had on me as a young lawyer.
Q: What is the most challenging aspect of your job?
A: The Bucks are such a visible and recognizable brand that there is little room for error. If we misstep, we may hear about it from our fans, our customers, and the media. We really have to be able to spot and analyze issues accurately, and also be able to recognize when we need to work with outside counsel to ensure we understand all legal implications of an issue before we advise our business staff.
Q: What is the most rewarding?
A: The most rewarding aspect of my job is seeing the finished product. The story is generally not about the process or time and effort involved in a deal or initiative but in the end result, which is okay! I have the utmost sense of pride when an agreement took weeks (or months) to negotiate or spent considerable time researching and working through legal issues relating to a new marketing initiative, and it’s finally launched and available to the public. I can see my work in action every day – from signage in the arena, giveaways provided to fans, concerts held, to the smile on Make-A-Wish childrens’ faces when they sign their one-day contracts. It is such an honor to be part of something that truly feels larger than me!
Q: How did working in collegiate athletics help you for your career in professional sports?
A: There are so many similarities between working in collegiate athletics and professional sports that I believe made working in collegiate athletics so beneficial for me prior to transitioning into professional sports. I had internships in law school both in the collegiate space at the NCAA in their Enforcement division and at Marquette University’s Office of General Counsel, and then also in the professional sports industry with the Milwaukee Brewers, so when I started at the University of Southern California in athletic compliance fresh out of law school, I had already had experience in both industries. What I did not realize until I was going through the interview process with the Marlins is how transferable the skills of being in athletic compliance would be to an in-house counsel position for a professional sports team. In athletic compliance, I had to monitor the activities of the sports in which I was assigned to ensure compliance with USC, Pac-12, and NCAA rules, and also interpret such rules and provide counsel to the coaches, staff, and student-athletes with whom I worked. I am doing the same thing in my career in professional sports, except I am interpreting league rules, company policies, and state and federal law.
Q: Has there been a guiding principle or two that have helped you build a successful sports law career?
A: One of the hardest skills – yet one of the most important – is to be able to tell someone, “I do not know. Let me look into it and get back to you.” It can be scary to be in that position because your natural tendency is to view the response as a sign of weakness, when in my mind it is a sign of strength. When you respond that you are not sure and need to look into it, 99% of the time people completely understand and respect that you are willing to research the question and get back to them. You do not have to pretend to have the answer to every question because that is an impossible standard to set for yourself, and I set extremely high standards for myself. Spending the extra time to research the question, evaluate the risks, and provide a well thought out and accurate response will always be worth it.
Q: What areas of law are you less inclined to rely on an outside law firm and why?
A: If I had to choose an area of law, it would likely be contract law whether that be in regards to our sponsorship agreements, event license agreements, or premium hospitality license agreements since those are so specific to our industry and also institutional preferences. However, setting an area of law aside, the other big area where we are less inclined to rely on an outside law firm is an interpretation question related to NBA rules as the only subject matter experts that can truly guide and counsel us in that respect are the attorneys and executives at the NBA.
Q: What takes up most of your time these days and why?
A: I have recently taken on more responsibility on the business side, specifically as it relates to our real estate development, the 30 acres of land surrounding Fiserv Forum generally known as Deer District. In the past year alone, construction on a music venue broke ground and we have announced deals for a mixed-use development that will include our local technical college and its athletic teams as a tenant, as well as a Moxy-branded hotel on the site of our former arena, the Bradley Center. I have been actively assisting our SVP of Business Operations and Chief Real Estate Development Officer on those projects in addition to prospecting and planning for additional developments on vacant parcels of land in Deer District. These opportunities are really exciting and affording me the opportunity to expand my expertise and role within the organization.
Q: What advice would you give someone who wants to be a team GC?
A: Go for it and do not waver from your dreams. So many people will tell you there are so few opportunities available that it will be next to impossible to become a team GC, or tell you there is a preferred path to getting such role. While it is true there are a finite number of professional sports teams, and generally only one team GC per team, that does not mean that you cannot land one of those positions. Also look at the professional sports leagues in the United States alone – there is a tremendous amount of growth happening in various leagues from the WNBA to NWSL in terms of expansion but also in the popularity of certain sports where the creation of additional professional sports leagues are happening, including Unrivaled (women’s basketball), LOVB (women’s volleyball), and Major League Volleyball (women’s volleyball). All of those opportunities will likely come with new in-house counsel positions, both at the league and team level. Further, if you look closely at the paths in-house counsel have taken to their current roles, there is no one “right path”. I have colleagues who have gone straight from law school into a role with a team, who have started with a law firm before transitioning into the team environment, and those like me who started in collegiate athletics and made the leap into professional sports. Every path comes with its own advantages and you have to find which path works best for you.
