All posts tagged: Legal Careers

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 & …

Courtroom

What is a Federal Clerkship?

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Unless you’re a lawyer or a law student, you might not know what a law clerk does. When I tell people that I’m a law clerk for a federal judge, sometimes they nod, smile, or just change the subject. More often than not, however, they ask, “What does that even mean?” Once I explain, many then ask, “Do you get paid for that?” I do indeed get paid, but the benefits of clerking stretch far beyond my government paycheck. Broadly speaking, law clerks exist to ensure that the judges they work for are as informed as possible before making decisions. They do so by researching the law involved in each case and writing memos analyzing the facts of that case and the litigants’ arguments in light of this law. They also attend trials and hearings, where they mostly observe and take careful notes so that they can later discuss with their judges any unexpected issues that arose during these proceedings. “Through [my clerkship] experiences, I not only bolstered my abilities to analyze and explain complicated …