Sports Law
Los Angeles Sports Law Firm - Hamrick & Evans, LLP Attorneys at Law
Thanks, in part, to films like Jerry Maguire, there is a common misconception that “sports lawyers” are agents who represent a narrow field of high-paid professional athletes. The truth is, “sports law” describes a wide range of sports-related clients from recreational and high school sports to world-class professional and international athletes.
A Los Angeles sports lawyer’s clients may include:
- Amateur and professional athletes, coaches, referees, and league officials
- National, regional, state, and local governing bodies
- Athletic administrators
- Sports facility owners and operators
- Sports broadcasters
This list can be expanded further to include sports trainers, equipment manufacturers, sponsors, concessionaires, and all those who provide sports-related goods and services.
What does a sports lawyer do?
While sports law sounds like a highly specialized field, sports law firms in Los Angeles must have a general knowledge of many areas of law. Since clients may include those in recreational, high school, college, and professional sports, a Los Angeles sports attorney must handle common legal matters such as antirust, contracts, and torts. More specifically, these attorneys handle:
- Athlete representation
- League office representation
- Contract negotiations
- Salary arbitration hearings
- Marketing and endorsement opportunities
- Intellectual property issues
- Event management
- Sports franchise and facility marketing
- Labor and workers compensation
What makes sports laws unique?
In the US, there is no direct government regulation of sports at the amateur or professional levels. Further, there are very few sport-related federal or state laws. Due to the unique nature of competition in various sports, the same rules that apply to average social or business activities cannot be applied as easily to sports.
For example, the law permits physical contact in sports as “part of the game.” Outside of the sports arena, this same type of contact could be viewed as a violation of a person’s legal rights. With this in mind, the sports lawyer plays a vital role in all aspects of sports law, even when it relates to sports injuries.
