Categories
Headline Sports Law

Albany Law School Baseball Law Symposium

What: Symposium – Baseball And The Law: America’s National Pastimes

When: Monday, April 11, 2011 (10:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m)

Where: Albany Law School

Agenda

  • 10:00 a.m. (outside room 200) – Continental Breakfast
  • 10:30 a.m. (Room 200) – “A Contrarian View of Steroids: What’s Wrong With Being All You Can Be?”
    • Professor Paul Finkelman, President William McKinley Distinguished Professor of Law and Public Policy, Albany Law School
  • 11:00 a.m. (Room 200) – “From The Dominican Republic To The United States: An Alumnus’s Perspective On Being An International Sports Agent”
    • Eric Bowman ’90, Founder and Senior Partner, Bowman Law Firm
  • 1:00 p.m. (Room 200) – 2011 Edward C. Sobota ’79 Memorial Lecture – “It’s A Wise Child That Knows Its Father: A Search For Baseball’s Origin”
    • John Thorn, Official Baseball Historian, Major League Baseball, and Author,Baseball in the Garden of Eden
  • 2:00 p.m. (Room 200) – “From Flood To Free Agency”
    • Henry D. Fetter, Attorney and Author of Taking on the Yankees: Winning and Losing in the Business of Baseball
  • 3:00 p.m. (Room 200) – “The Laws and Litigation Safeguarding Intellectual Property Against Infringement and Piracy”
    • Moshe Bonder ’03, Regional General Counsel – Americas, CG Power Solutions USA Inc.
    • Susan E. Farley, Principal, Heslin Rothenberg Farley & Mesiti P.C.
    • Martin Schwimmer, Partner, Leason Ellis LLP
  • 4:00 p.m. (Dean Alexander Moot Courtroom) – “If You Build It, They Will Come: A Discussion On Stadium Construction”
    • Joseph Gunn, New York City Corporation Counsel
    • Katherine Baynes, Partner, DLA Piper LLP
    • Michael Klein, Town Attorney, Town of Ramapo
    • Moderator: David Fernandez ’92, Partner, Carter Ledyard & Milburn LLP
  • 5:15 p.m. (Outside Dean Alexander Moot Courtroom) – Coffee Break
  • 5:45 p.m. (Dean Alexander Moot Courtroom) – “The Legal State Of Our National Pastimes”
    • JR Rickert, President and CEO, National Sports Management
    • Douglas Gladstone, Author, A Bitter Cup of Coffee: How MLB and The Players Association Threw 874 Retirees a Curve
    • David L. Snyder, Professor, Department of Sport Management at the State University of New York College at Cortland
    • Rick Murphy, Vice President, General Manager, Partner, Tri-City Valley Cats
    • Moderator: Hank Domin, Sports Editor, Albany Times Union
  • 7:00 p.m. (East Foyer) – Extra Innings Reception with hot dog cart and Cracker Jacks. Book signings by Douglas Gladstone, John Thorn and Henry D. Fetter.

Cost: Free.


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.