Categories
Arbitration Sports Law

Fake Arbitration Hearings And The Real Ones That Loom

Remember my post about the National Baseball Arbitration Competition hosted by Tulane Law School?  Well it has come and gone.  It took place from January 22-24 and congratulations are officially in order for the following schools who were well represented by their students.

1st place – Denver Law School

2nd place – Notre Dame Law School

Semi-Finalists – Suffolk Law School and Ave Maria Law School

Now I get to host a brilliant mind from Tulane Law School on my home soil at the University of Florida.  Professor Gabe Feldman, Director of the Tulane Sports Law Program, will be a part of this Friday’s 2010 UF Sports Law Symposium, serving on the MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement panel.  Can’t make it to Gainesville?  Watch the event live!

And while the National Baseball Arbitration Competition is over, we are right in the heart of the real-life MLB arbitration period.  Team and player arbitration figures have been exchanged and many groups have settled.  The actual hearings period is between February 1-21.  You better believe that many agents and attorneys are hard at work preparing their cases just in case.  Roughly half of the 44 players who filed for arbitration have yet to settle.

By Darren Heitner

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.