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Agent Regulation Symposium

One of the people that I met at the 2011 Sports Lawyers Association (SLA) Annual Conference in Washington D.C. is Roy Kessel, founder of sports law blog, From the Bench.  Roy is also founder of the Sports Philanthropy Foundation (SPF), instructor in Northwestern University’s Masters in Sports Administration Program, and served for many years as the Co-Chair of the Chicago Bar Association’s Sports Law Committee.  During the SLA Conference, Kessel came up with an idea to host an Agent Regulation Symposium through his website.

Kessel is accepting entries for the Agent Regulation Symposium through June 1, 2011, which means you do not have much time to put something together and send it over his way.  He will publish submissions, which should focus on ways to fix the current “broken system” of agent regulation.  Please send all submissions to rkessel@SportsLoop.com.

Kessel’s fix is to change agent regulation to be strictly done on a national level, cutting states out of the equation.  This is something that I have backed for quite some time, and wrote about in my Dartmouth Law Journal article titled, Duties of Sports Agents to Athletes and Statutory Regulation Thereof.  I wrote,

There are also problems with registration.  All states that have adopted the UAAA [Uniform Athlete Agent Act] have registration requirements for sports agents who wish to recruit student-athletes within their states.  However, many sports agents fail to register in states in which they recruit, and  there has been little enforcement of registration requirements by Secretaries of State.  Additionally, in the majority of states, there is no requirement that sports agents register if they plan on contacting or representing a non-student athlete (a professional).  In other professions, one must be qualified and certified before he is able to practice in those professions.  Thus, some have called for a federal registration system required for all sports agents in all states.  This registration system would be mandatory for sports agents recruiting student-athletes and/or representing professional athletes.  A prerequisite to a sports agent signing an agency contract with an athlete, student or professional, would be listing on the national registry.  If unregistered, a sports agent would forfeit all commissions earned from the representation of any athletes.  This system would be practical and effective since it truly brings national uniformity to the registration process.  It holds all agents accountable no matter the state in which they reside or recruit, making it affordable for smaller agents to register and helping protect all athletes.

I look forward to seeing what Kessel is able to put together with his Symposium.

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.

One reply on “Agent Regulation Symposium”

Constitutional issue, taking without due process of law . . . it may work with a tribunal, sanctions, etc. 

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