In many ways, the Second Annual Sports Law Negotiation Competition held at Thomas Jefferson School of Law the weekend of September 28-30 was twice as successful as the first one in 2011.
For example, there were twice as many teams. Forty teams from 28 different top law schools across the nation, from UCLA to Harvard, came to TJSL to compete with each other in their negotiating skills.
The overall winner was the Oklahoma City Law School Team of Jarin Giesler and Cameron Feil, both 3Ls. Second place went to Southwestern School of Law. Third place to UC Hastings and Fourth place went to Chapman.
The panel of judges in the final four, who heard the teams negotiate their hypothetical scenarios included San Diego City Attorney Jan Goldsmith, Federal Magistrate and TJSL Trustee William McCurine, and Major League Baseball Hall of Famer and San Diego Padres Executive Vice-President Dave Winfield.
The conference began on Friday evening, at a private luxury box at Petco Park, where many of the attendees watched the Padres versus San Francisco Giants. The event was hosted by the intellectual property law firm CONSOR, the overall sponsor of the competition.
The competition began on Saturday morning and ran through the entire day as the 40 teams were narrowed to the final four. The host school, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, did not compete.
Saturday’s highlight was the keynote address by legendary sports agent Leigh Steinberg, whose career inspired the Tom Cruise Movie “Jerry Maguire.” Steinberg began his talk by saying to the many aspiring sports law attorneys and negotiators: “It’s great to speak to my people.”
His mantra seemed to be: Above all, really know who is across the table from you and what makes them tick.
“Put yourself in the heart and mind of the person you’re negotiating with,” he said. “Draw out their hopes, their fears and their greatest aspirations.” And of course, he recommends that you need to research their business know it inside and out.
“The goal is to negotiate a deal that works for both sides and allows the other side to emerge with dignity and honor,” said Steinberg. “To do that, you establish a paradigm of cooperation. An aggrieved party will never give in. Your job is to quantify your offer with statistics so you can present them with a compelling reason to accept it.”
One thing Steinberg has always been known for is to encourage his athlete clients to get involved in their communities – to set up foundations, scholarships or other programs – to get them out of themselves and actively working on things they care about. For example, when he represented former San Diego Chargers kicker Rolf Benirscke, Steinberg and Benirscke created the “Kicks for Critters” program, which raised money for endangered species, something near and dear to Rolf’s heart.
Steinberg says the key to negotiation is to “sit down with your client and get their values down on paper – what’s most important to them. Financial security? Endorsements? Being a starter? If everything is equally important, then you can’t make a deal.”
“Always keep in mind that the quality of how you negotiate makes a difference in people’s lives,” Steinberg said in closing. “I challenge you to not be just another plumber. Make it a better world.”
Director of the Sports Law Negotiation Competitions Jeremy Evans (2011) said “Steinberg was engaging with all in attendance and referenced real life business and personal examples going back 30 years showcasing good negotiation strategy and life lesson. His speech was a wonderful highlight of the weekend and he wants to return again next year in some capacity.”
Rounding out the weekend was a timely and relevant panel session called “Negotiating Professional Athlete’s Contracts and Avoiding Major Infractions in Big time Athletic Programs: What we can learn from Penn State.”
The panelists spoke about the effects the Penn State scandal will have on college football, saying there would be more accountability for collegiate coaches and more of an emphasis on compliance control when hiring college coaches.
