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Guide For The Sports Lawyers Association 39th Annual Conference

The Sports Lawyers Association annual conference is a yearly meet-up for influential members of the Sports Law community.
The Sports Lawyers Association annual conference is a yearly meet-up for influential members of the Sports Law community.

What: The Sports Lawyers Association annual conference is a meet-up for many Sports Law practitioners around the world.

When: May 16-18, 2013.  Opening Remarks will be made at 12:25 p.m. on May 16.  The last panel of the event will be on Breaking into the Sports Law Industry, which begins at 1:45 p.m. on May 18.

Where: Intercontinental Buckhead, Atlanta, Gerogia

Official Conference Hashtag: Whether you are in attendance or not, follow along with those live Tweeting with the hashtag: #slac13

Conference Mobile App: http://codu.co/c108be.  Contains easy to read information on your mobile phone about the conference’s sessions, speakers, sponsors, attendees, etc.

Highlights:

  • The Legal Impact of Head Trauma on Professional Athletes panel will cover a topic that has been a matter of discussion at many law school symposia throughout the past year.  This panel will be moderated by Robert E. Wallace with panelists Kevin E. Crutchfield, MD (Director, Comprehensive Sports Concussion Program, LifeBridge Health Baltimore, MD), Tim English (NFLPA, Washington, DC) and Lawrence P. Ferazani (Senior Labor Litigation Counsel, NFL, New York, NY).  It will take place from 2:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. on May 16.
  • Other than the plethora of interesting subjects to be discussed in the break-out sessions on May 17, a panel that catches my attention is the one moderated by Debbie Spander, VP Broadcasting at Wasserman Media Group.  It is titled New Media: Legal Implications of the Growth of Twitter, Streaming and I-Pads on Sports Brands, Media Rights and Delivery and will begin at 10:45 a.m.  Others on the panel are Robert A. Hacker (VP Business and Legal Affairs at FOX Sports), Matthew Hong (SVP & General Manager, Sports Operations at Turner Sports), Jamie Hemann (Senior Director, Talent & Development at NFL Media) and Chris Kluwe (former Punter for the Minnesota Vikings).
  • There are a total of 10 break-out sessions on May 17.  The one that has me most interested is Online and Mobile Promotions 101: Don’t Strike Out! Know the Rules Before You Play the Promotions Game.  It is moderated by Nerissa McGinn of Loeb & Loeb and its sole panelist is John T. Cooper, Senior Vice President and Assistant General Counsel at Turner Entertainment and Turner Sports for Turner Broadcasting.

I will be in attendance for the third consecutive year.  It was a blast sitting on a panel last year with Warren Zola and Donald Remy.  This year I get to sit back and enjoy the scene.  Look forward to seeing many of you in Atlanta.

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.