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Former NBA Agent Disbarred In The State Of Washington

bradley marshallSqueezing clients for fees and bullying them into accepting settlements will easily make you a very unpopular person amongst those you represent.  It will also make you a target for competing agents who are always looking for something to use against others in the industry.  If you really do some awful things, the consequences could be even worse.

Bradley R. Marshall was an attorney that had been accepted to practice law in the state of Washington.  He began his career as a sports agent, representing NBA players like Doug Christie, Clifford Robinson, James Edwards, Spencer Haywood, and Jason Terry (now represented by Dan Fegen at BEST).  Beyond serving as many athletes’ negotiator for their professional contracts, Marshall was also retained for his legal counsel in relation athletes’ problems with deceptive business partners and other opportunistic individuals.  Meanwhile, it seems like it was Marshall doing the deceptive acts and it looks as if the athletes should have hired someone to protect them against Marshall.

As reported by The Seattle Times, the Washington Supreme Court disbarred Marshall for numerous ethical and legal violations.  The State Bar Association had charged Marshall with twelve counts of violating the state’s Rules of Professional Conduct.

“These violations include demands for additional fees to continue a lawsuit that was paid for on a flat-fee basis, filing a lawsuit and a lien against a client who refused to pay him additional fees, a deceptive attempt to compel settlement, failure to obtain consent for a conflict of client interest, and other deceptive practices,” wrote Justice James Johnson. “These facts are accompanied by multiple aggravating factors, including prior discipline for similar conduct.”

A man who taught ethics and business law at Seattle Pacific University was found to have no ethics.  In his LinkedIN profile, Marshall wrote,

Bradley Marshall is committed to the highest standards of professionalism, and his personal ethics and dedication on behalf of his clients have earned him the respect and accolades of his peers, as well as community and government leaders.

The state of Washington disagrees.  Side note: Marshall’s website is no longer online.

The actual Washington Supreme Court decision is embedded below.

By Darren Heitner

Darren Heitner created Sports Agent Blog as a New Year's Resolution on December 31, 2005. Originally titled, "I Want To Be A Sports Agent," the website was founded with the intention of causing Heitner to learn more about the profession that he wanted to join, meet reputable individuals in the space and force himself to stay on top of the latest news and trends.

Heitner now runs Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., which is a law firm with many practice areas, including sports law and contract law. Heitner has represented numerous athletes and sports agents as legal counsel. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington from 2011-2014, where he created and taught a course titled, Sport Agency Management, which included subjects ranging from NCAA regulations to athlete agent certification and the rules governing the profession. Heitner serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he teaches a Sports Law class that includes case law surrounding athlete agents and the NCAA rules.

One reply on “Former NBA Agent Disbarred In The State Of Washington”

Im very happy to hear that about the pros and cons of the agent world, however, with the credentials and assigned tasks Mr. Marshall esq. had, he shouldve known better, my son who plays basketball, were looking for a decent and well rounded agent, that can help him. Not beat him

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