All posts tagged: career paths

So You Want To Be A Sports Lawyer?

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I receive a lot of inquiries from law students, recent graduates, and even senior lawyers asking for advice about breaking into sports law. Many of these messages come from students and lawyers from other states who follow me on social media or who have attended panels or seminars where I served as a featured speaker. It is truly humbling. I am always open to talking with anyone in the legal profession who shares my passion for sports law and the commitment to the analytical, negotiation, and drafting skills that this practice area demands. But the harsh reality is that getting a job in sports law is often not based on merit alone. The selection process is heavily weighted towards relationships and prior experience. Everyone wants in on sports; practicing in this area brings with it a certain “cool” factor. People will work harder to be a sports lawyer, many will take a pay cut just get in the door. But getting those jobs are often based just as much on good timing and personal contacts …

Partners in the Movement: Reflections on Movement Lawyering

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As a former middle school teacher, what brought me to Temple Law as a student was a not-fully-defined goal of partnering with youth to address education injustice through policy change. At the time I didn’t have the language of “movement lawyering” to describe my goal, but was fortunate to end up at the movement lawyering organization Advancement Project as an attorney on the education justice team. In this role I partnered with youth organizers across the country to provide legal and policy support for their education justice campaigns. We took on school policing, strengthened Sanctuary Schools policies, and built campaigns for school mental health from the ground up. I am honored to continue partnering on some of this work now. Returning to Temple as faculty, I was excited to see so much interest in movement lawyering among the student body. I also often receive questions (and sometimes field misconceptions) about what exactly movement lawyering is, questions that inspired me to write this piece based on my experience. To clear up a few things at the …

From Temple to Germany: How Temple Law School Shaped My Career in Sports and Entertainment Law

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When I completed my LL.M. at Temple Law School in Philadelphia in 1994/1995, I did not anticipate how profoundly this experience would shape my professional path. The focus of my studies was a comparative thesis on “Secondary Industrial Activities” in the United States, the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of Germany – a thesis that later became the basis of my doctoral dissertation in Germany, which I completed and published in 1996. I was able to pursue my LL.M. at Temple thanks to an Ambassadorial Scholarship from Rotary International, which gave me access not only to an excellent academic environment but also to a truly international legal community. A pivotal moment for me was my first encounter with Sports & Entertainment Law at Temple Law School. The professor teaching this course at the time was the lawyer who had negotiated the product placement contracts connected with the movie “Rocky”. For a young German lawyer whose background was primarily in traditional business and labour law, this was an impressive introduction to the intersection of law, …

LLM for Foreign-Trained Lawyers: Opening Doors to the U.S. Legal System

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  Every day, I have the privilege of standing beside immigrant families during some of the most uncertain moments of their lives. As the founder and Director of Immigration at Migrance Initiative Inc., a nonprofit in Philadelphia, that work is my purpose. And whenever I trace it back to where it started, I arrive at the same place: Temple University Beasley School of Law. As a foreign-trained lawyer, I came to Temple to build my career on American soil, and its LLM for Foreign-Trained Lawyers gave me exactly the foundation I needed. The program is designed  for internationally educated attorneys like me, and it opened the door to the U.S. legal system in a way that was both rigorous and welcoming. Earning my LLM in American and International Law was a turning point, and looking back now, I understand just how deeply that year shaped my career and the practitioner I have become. What stayed with me most was the depth of the education. I arrived wanting to understand the American legal system and international …

Why Top Global Law Firms Are Racing to Build Sports Law Practices

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The legal industry is undergoing a noticeable shift, and the latest battleground isn’t technology, private equity, or corporate restructurings—it’s sports. Over the past year, six of the world’s leading law firms have launched or significantly expanded dedicated sports law practices, signaling that sports law has evolved as one of the most attractive practice sectors. This isn’t a series of isolated hiring decisions. It’s a strategic move to secure expertise in a market where demand is accelerating faster than the supply of experienced legal talent. The most recent entrant is Paul Hastings, which has officially launched a global sports practice by hiring two highly regarded lawyers with deep experience across the industry. The firm recruited Brandon Etheridge, formerly the general counsel of the Baltimore Ravens, alongside sports mergers and acquisitions specialist Mark Zerdin. Zerdin is well known for advising on complex business transactions, including General Motors’ high-profile entry into Formula 1 with the Cadillac Formula 1 team. However, Paul Hastings is not alone. Several of the world’s most prestigious law firms—including Latham & Watkins, Kirkland & …