Darren Adam Heitner, Esq., is a preeminent sports attorney and the founder of Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C., a Fort Lauderdale-based law firm specializing in sports law, contract negotiations, intellectual property, and arbitration. He earned his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2010 and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, magna cum laude, from the University of Florida in 2007, where he was named Valedictorian of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. Admitted to practice in the state bars of Florida, New York, and the District of Columbia, as well as multiple federal courts, Darren also serves as a certified arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association.
As an adjunct professor, Darren imparts his expertise through teaching Sports Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law and Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) at the University of Miami School of Law in the Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law LL.M. program. His scholarly contributions include authoring several books published by the American Bar Association, such as How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, and numerous articles in prominent publications like Forbes, Inc. Magazine, and Above the Law. His thought leadership in NIL has earned him recognition as one of the foremost experts by The Wall Street Journal, USA TODAY, and On3, and he has been lauded as a “power player in NIL deals” by Action Network and a “top sports trademark attorney” by Sportico.
Darren’s passion for sports law led him to establish Sports Agent Blog on December 31, 2005, initially titled “I Want To Be A Sports Agent.” The platform, created as a New Year’s resolution, has grown into a cornerstone of the sports agency community, offering in-depth analysis of industry trends, legal disputes, and agent-player dynamics. His commitment to the field is further evidenced by his representation of numerous athletes and sports agents, as well as his prior role as an Adjunct Professor at Indiana University Bloomington, where he developed and taught a course on Sport Agency Management from 2011 to 2014.
Darren’s contributions have been recognized with prestigious honors, including the University of Florida’s 40 Under 40 Award, the University of Florida Levin College of Law’s Outstanding Young Alumnus Award, and designation as the best lawyer in Fort Lauderdale by Fort Lauderdale Magazine. He remains an active voice in the sports law community, sharing insights through his weekly NIL newsletter and his X posts, engaging a broad audience on legal developments in sports.
View Archive →
The AZL Padres are sporting an impressive record, and Robert Lara has a lot to do with it. I just purchased some new Under Armour batting gloves for Lara yesterday (he has busted through two pairs already this season). As long as he continues to tear up the ball, I have no problem supplying the equipment. Here is a snippet from Denis Savage of Scout.com in a piece he wrote this weekend:
2 replies on “Robert Lara At The Plate”
Thanks for the update on Lara and the Dynasty Notes. I am sure most of the readers of this blog want your clients to suceed. You are pretty fortunate that Lara is a stand-up guy who is not asking for much more than batting gloves. I know agents who buy their minor league guys over 30 pairs of batting gloves each year, 2 fielding gloves, 3 pairs of sunglasses, shoes and maple bats…running up near 10 g’s a year. Can you let us know when and what type of players usually get equipment deals (probably free product and not money)…how do the companies make these decisions…can’t you find companies to at least send your guys samples of their bats, shoes and gloves?? What role as an agent do you have in getting Lara called up to A ball. Lara reaching base in 41 out of 44 games is impressive, but as an agent, what other statistics can you put together to show Lara’s value (I’ve never read anything from you or others on this site that really break down statistics like baseballprospectus, hardballtimes, etc.)…please share this knowledge if you got it. I think this is what most players hires agents for (the batting gloves, personal services and connections, and personal guidance can only take a player so far). For recruiting purposes, make sure you are registered with the states and schools…my firend wanted to be an agent but the states wanted some surety bond for $100,000 to recruit a kid. On a side note, I think signing all of the Dynasty staff as independent contractors really takes away from your approach (plus, you can still be held liable for their actions) and takes aways from your potential earnings….you are putting a lot of trust in so many people…I think you should have stuck with your own abilities instead of expanding so much without really having any of those guys representing a professional (as in the big leagues) athlete. And with Lara, aren’t most big league clubs looking for power at that position…the 2B can get the walks and on-base? Just trying to keep this blog fancied with thoughtful dialogue….I hope law school classes are going well (why didn’t you choose better classes than the ones you got?)
From my discussions with various equipment companies, it seems that they will only put deals together with first-year drafted players who are drafted at the top of the board. Being picked past the 15th round, this makes it very tough for Lara to command such a deal at this time. If Lara moves up and looks to have long term potential, we may start getting those deals for him. We may be able to get samples, which is something we may look into in the future.
I have spoken numerous times with members in the Padres Front office about Lara’s current status with the club and his potential to move up. As an agent, we can continue to assess his situation and have discussions with those who are influential in the organization to see when will be the right time for his call up to Class A. I do not have much of an intention of getting into sabermetric type of analysis on this site, if that is what you are asking for.
I have found that signing our employees as indep contractors has worked thus far and do not believe I will be changing it any time soon.
I appreciate the dialogue. You posed some great questions and I hope that I answered in a decent manner. I wrote a post scheduled for today which discusses my law school classes.