That call. They all dread it. They all know it could come at any time. And when it does, the message is the same — one of their players is in trouble and they must come up with a solution that protects their employer, first, and then the employee.
Welcome to the world of professional sports team general counsel, or at least the darkest corners of that world. To be sure, there are plenty of positives to the job, too. And both the pluses and minuses were on full display at the annual Sports and Recreation Law Conference in Charlotte, N.C. in early March, where the panel of GCs included Joe Pierce of the Charlotte Hornets, Richard Thigpen of the Carolina Panthers, and Bill Traurig of the Carolina Hurricanes.
All three men were asked initially by moderator Mark Conrad, Associate Professor of Law and Ethics at Fordham University’s School of Business, about the challenges of the job.
Thigpen, unfortunately for him, has had the most experience with players and their run-ins with the law. First, there was Rae Carruth, who conspired to kill his pregnant girlfriend, and now sits in a North Carolina jail. More recently, there was defensive lineman Greg Hardy, who was accused of domestic abuse and presumed guilty by some.
“What you end up trying to do is balance public relations with player relations, while doing the right thing,” said Thigpen. “If you react and cut the player before you know the facts, what does that say to the team: ‘Sorry, we think you might have done something bad. We‘re cutting you loose.’ That shows no dedication that you believe your players are good people.
“The bottom line is there are a lot of things you have to take into consideration. We’re trying to do things the right way. The NFL is trying to do things the right way. Hopefully, it will get to the point where we can do a better job of preventing domestic violence, rather than just reacting to it.”
Traurig admitted he has been “lucky.” But if it does happen, the best way to mitigate damage is to get out in front of it, he said.
“We advise our players that if they get in trouble, they should contact the team first,” he said. “A group of us will convene and go through all the issues. What is the public’s response? How do we balance the interest of the player, CBA, and the image of the team? What can we do legally? We want to look at it from business perspective. There have been times where we have even issued a press release before the media was even aware of the story.”
The good news is the respective leagues are taking a more active role in working with the team in such situations.
“We are finding that the league offices are coming in, taking a broader role in terms of investigations” said Pierce. “They are providing more input than they used to have.” Such input is helpful in situations where the wrong information can reflect negatively on the team. “It really requires a careful balance,” he added.
Disciplinary matters are far from the only challenge.
Thigpen said that workers compensation claims have become “the bane” of his existence, “especially players filing for workers compensation claims once they are off the team. And it doesn’t make any difference whether the players were on the team a week, or 15 years. Whenever they are gone, they can point to their latest injury as stemming from a practice or a game. There is no argument about the payment of medical expenses from football related injuries. It’s the claim for lost wages that’s problematic because few players can earn wages outside of professional sports that are comparable to their salaries while playing, so they are always going to qualify for the maximum benefit available, which gets a little pricey.”
At the same time, there are plenty of positives.
For Thigpen, it’s working for an owner like Jerry Richardson and getting to know some of the players. “Ninety-nine percent of them are tremendous people,” he said.
That sense of connection with the team on the playing surface is inescapable, said Traurig, who listed one of the positives as “being able to experience a Stanley Cup win — just the energy in the building when you are winning like that.”
Pierce talked of the “connection you have with the community. The passion people feel toward the organization is something I really enjoy. You are doing something that connects locally, nationally, and internationally with the public.”
All three general counsel had a unique path to their general counsel post. Pierce secured an MBA and was an associate at a law firm before joining the Jacksonville Jaguars of the NFL, and then the Hornets.
Traurig, who also has an MBA, “came up up in the arena industry, working as a security guard, and then in the box office and finance department. I’ve done everything you can do in an arena, and it has helped me as a general counsel.” Traurig even went to law school part-time while working for Hurricanes.”
Thigpen, who also has a Master of Tax degree, was in general practice, working with medical groups and closely held family businesses, when he got a call from the Richardson family to help with the tax consequences of building a new stadium.
“When I took the job, I didn’t have a background in labor and employment law, or IP,” Thigpen said. “In fact, I recently hired someone who has experience where I lack experience.”
In addition, they each talked about their respective relationships with their leagues.
“We have good relationship with the NHL legal department,” Traurig said. “Most of our interaction with the NHL involves transactional and IP issues, as well as league-wide litigation. Generally, the teams and leagues are aligned in their interest.
“There may be times when we are at odds with the league. But we know the league has the best interest of all 30 times, not just us. The league wants consistency, and is careful about setting a precedent.”
Pierce said he “interacts with the league office on a weekly, if not daily, basis. The NBA has been a very positive resource. It essentially is its own in-house IP department, which has been a great resource for us.” He added that another impressive asset with the NBA is its very thorough nature. As an example, he cited “several thick operations manuals for sponsorship categories and other matters, which outline anything and everything you can and can’t do.”
Thigpen noted that he turns to the NFL on IP rights and players grievances. “The league also will review player contracts for us to make sure we have things buttoned up,” he added.
Some Advice from Pierce
“Our job is to help our sponsors sell more product,” he said. “You really need to have that kind of orientation. Sure on the front end, you are going to bargain hard to get best deal you can for the team. But once that deal is done, there is an ongoing relationship that you need to manage well.”
