Aspiring Sports Agent Going to Law School Forum

[spleenworship]

Fed and omz, please please please please please come back in 4-6 years and tell us how that sports agent careers went. Please?

Because, I gotta tell you, when a law professor, a practicing lawyer, a law student and even a bunch of 0Ls tell you this ain't gonna happen, it ain't gonna happen. I don't know, maybe people posting in here are aware of some elementary math like: I dunno... The fact that only one athlete in a hundred (at the college level) is going to make it... And each five or ten of those only need one agent... One agent that doesn't need a JD. So yeah, simple math say your chances are super super crappy. I went to law school with like 4 people who wanted to be sports agents and do sports law. Two are unemployed, ones going to be a DA and the other is going back to school to do counseling or something. So.. Yeah. I think I've made my point.

Feel free to call me a douche if you want, but y'all really need a thicker skin. You think the NBA's lawyers are gonna cuddle with you and give you tea and motherf***ing crumpets? Hell no. They're going to be hostile pricks, and when you call them on it they'll just laugh.

[goldeneye]

Also, the guy who took 5% from Wade was probably in violation of the NBA Players Association agreement because I believe the max % is 3.

[rickgrimes69]

Is it really necessary to try shooting my dreams down? Like seriously? I'm not telling you that you can't do BigLaw or that life in BigLaw sucks, or whatever else you want to do. Why do you feel the need to try to belittle me? Not a single one of you knows me as a person. You know nothing about me other than the information provided in the opening paragraph. News flash: top sports agents are exceedingly wealthy. Just ask the agent who took 5% from Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh's 200 million dollar contracts when they signed with the Miami Heat. I'm not even in this for the money anyways, it is the career that sounds the most intriguing to me. All I want advice on is which law school would help me best achieve my goal, not whether or not I am going to end up penniless and homeless after a failed stint as a sports agent.

Nobody's shooting your dreams down, you just aren't listening. You need to recognize first and foremost that becoming a sports agent is pretty unlikely, and ask yourself if you would be ok with working as a regular 'ol (non-sports agent) lawyer. The reason you aren't getting useful advice is because there isn't any we can give. Whether you become a sports agent will be primarily based on your intellect, hustle, collegiality, connections, and a whole lot of luck. Law school isn't going to do anything to further those talents, so where you decide to attend is largely irrelevant.

[FedFan123]

Fed and omz, please please please please please come back in 4-6 years and tell us how that sports agent careers went. Please?

Because, I gotta tell you, when a law professor, a practicing lawyer, a law student and even a bunch of 0Ls tell you this ain't gonna happen, it ain't gonna happen. I don't know, maybe people posting in here are aware of some elementary math like: I dunno... The fact that only one athlete in a hundred (at the college level) is going to make it... And each five or ten of those only need one agent... One agent that doesn't need a JD. So yeah, simple math say your chances are super super crappy. I went to law school with like 4 people who wanted to be sports agents and do sports law. Two are unemployed, ones going to be a DA and the other is going back to school to do counseling or something. So.. Yeah. I think I've made my point.

Feel free to call me a douche if you want, but y'all really need a thicker skin. You think the NBA's lawyers are gonna cuddle with you and give you tea and motherf***ing crumpets? Hell no. They're going to be hostile pricks, and when you call them on it they'll just laugh.

I've already said it over and over, but I didn't register and post this question to find out whether or not you guys think I can make it as a sports agent. The truth is that sure I might fail and never make it, but that isn't up to you to decide....SOME people do end up as successful sports agents, so who are you to think that I am not one of them? The only reason I'm on here is to seek some help about which school will best prepare me for my career goal. If you don't have anything to contribute to that then why are you posting here? I don't need or want our advice on whether or not I will make it as a sports agent so stop wasting your time and my time. This forum is utterly useless and what a colossal waste of my time and energy. Oh and I'm not going to stoop to your level and call you a douche because I know that is exactly what you want.

[FedFan123]

Also, the guy who took 5% from Wade was probably in violation of the NBA Players Association agreement because I believe the max % is 3.

That's for the NFL.

[goldeneye]

Also, the guy who took 5% from Wade was probably in violation of the NBA Players Association agreement because I believe the max % is 3.

That's for the NFL.

4% then. sorry.

http://www.nbpa.org/sites/default/files ... %20PDF.pdf

B. Players Agent’s Compensation
The maximum fees which the player agent may charge or collect shall be as follows:
(1) If the player agent negotiates an agreement whereby the player receives only the minimum
compensation under the NBA-NBPA Collective Bargaining Agreement applicable for the
playing season or seasons covered by the individual contract, the agent shall receive a
2% fee for each such season;
(2) If the player agent negotiates a contract whereby the compensation the individual player
agent receives is in excess of the minimum compensation applicable under the NBA-NBPA
Collective Bargaining Agreement for one or more playing seasons, the agent shall receive
a fee of four percent (4%) of the compensation negotiated for the player for ea

[dcpanther]

.

[bryanjbay12]

The amount of people who come on these forums with an idea and a massive chip on their shoulder is ridiculous. If you are so sure you're going to become a sports agent, get off the internet and go fucking do it. No one here can help you because no one here is a sports agent. What school you go to doesn't matter because good grades and prestige won't matter at all.

What's the point of asking for advice if you're just going to reject it until someone tells you what you want to hear?

[FedFan123]

The amount of people who come on these forums with an idea and a massive chip on their shoulder is ridiculous. If you are so sure you're going to become a sports agent, get off the internet and go fucking do it. No one here can help you because no one here is a sports agent. What school you go to doesn't matter because good grades and prestige won't matter at all.

What's the point of asking for advice if you're just going to reject it until someone tells you what you want to hear?

Lol, I'm not the one with a chip on my shoulder. Just got annoyed that people feel the need to look down on others. I was taught to treat others with respect but I guess that is just me.

[goldeneye]

The amount of people who come on these forums with an idea and a massive chip on their shoulder is ridiculous. If you are so sure you're going to become a sports agent, get off the internet and go fucking do it. No one here can help you because no one here is a sports agent. What school you go to doesn't matter because good grades and prestige won't matter at all.

What's the point of asking for advice if you're just going to reject it until someone tells you what you want to hear?

Lol, I'm not the one with a chip on my shoulder. Just got annoyed that people feel the need to look down on others. I was taught to treat others with respect but I guess that is just me.

You're pursuing the wrong career if that's how you're going to live life.

[phillywc]

Yes, OP is reacting badly to criticism. I'm actually curious of the backgrounds of lawyers at Proskaur and other firms that do sports law though. Also curious how the large agencies hire.

This is a pie in the sky goal that most people will never get so I'm certainly not choosing schools based on it, just wondering.

[bound]

The one question you keep avoiding is whether or not you have NBA/NFL connections and if you know college athletes with pro prospects, sooo we're gonna assume not.

[beepboopbeep]

I don't need or want our advice on whether or not I will make it as a sports agent so stop wasting your time and my time. This forum is utterly useless and what a colossal waste of my time and energy. Oh and I'm not going to stoop to your level and call you a douche because I know that is exactly what you want.

I was taught to treat others with respect but I guess that is just me.

QFP.

[FOM]

OP, no one was looking down on you. A couple people made some jokes about sports lawyers and you took it personally for absolutely no reason.

[A. Nony Mouse]

OP, didn't you say you've been using this site as a resource for a few months? I'm not sure why the responses you've received surprise you if you've familiarized yourself with the kinds of discussions that take place here. This forum is largely dedicated to tough love and to trying to prevent people from investing a lot of time, money, and resources into endeavors with very little chance of success (and succumbing to special snowflake syndrome). That's not to say that you won't succeed, just that many people here do not see trying to become a sports agent as a rational choice.

But I think what rickgrimes had to say makes the most sense:

Nobody's shooting your dreams down, you just aren't listening. You need to recognize first and foremost that becoming a sports agent is pretty unlikely, and ask yourself if you would be ok with working as a regular 'ol (non-sports agent) lawyer. The reason you aren't getting useful advice is because there isn't any we can give. Whether you become a sports agent will be primarily based on your intellect, hustle, collegiality, connections, and a whole lot of luck. Law school isn't going to do anything to further those talents, so where you decide to attend is largely irrelevant.

[goldeneye]

Also there really isn't such thing as sports lawyers. It's lawyers whose clients deal with or involve themselves with sports.

[MarshallE]

OP, as someone with connections to the professional baseball world, I'd like to reiterate rickjames' point that becoming a sports agent requires a whole lot of luck. You need to strike gold twice: once when you find a player who makes it, and then again if he's willing to keep you as his agent after he becomes established. I know agents who have found future HOF players and then are dropped before their big contract, in order for the to athlete secure more money with a "star" agent. The reality of the situation is that this is their one chance to make life changing money and they frequently do not want to risk a penny with an unproven agent: they are focused on their livelihood, not yours. These agents are left with nothing, as they were never able to make income they deserved off their athlete's career contract and could not find another player of equivalent talent. Several of my friends have been "discovered" by agents in their teens, only to move on to a more well known name when the reality that they will become a pro athlete sets in. In baseball it is particularly difficult, as so many 5-star talents never make it past the minor leagues. If you're comfortable with a big-law as a backup, then go to NYU, as it provides the best insurance if you are unable to achieve your goal. But be cognizant that if your goal is to be a sports agent, you'll be spending the first few years out of school attending countless high school games, not working in a firm. Those years you spend in law school will be years other aspiring sports athletes will be out on the fields or courts, making connections with the talent that you hope one day to represent. I wish you the best of luck, but I hope you familiarize yourself with how the process of establishing yourself as an MLB/NBA agent works prior to making a life altering decision.

[omzster67]

I don't think anyone has denied entering this field is incredibly hard. Law school is hard...doing anything lofty is, by it's very nature, difficult. But people here just don't treat things on equal levels. If OP had worded his original post as I want to clerk for CJ Roberts or Scalia or any of the 9 I believe the reception would have been different. We get it. It's fucking difficult. But for those of us at T10 schools who want to end up in the sports field or clerking on SCOTUS or becoming Secretary of ______...our chances are all the same. My point is that this career path is looked down upon like a joke and ultimately ridiculed. No one can argue that.

Something being hard shouldn't deter any of us. The worlds greatest minds, innovators, leaders...the best people in any field had slim to no chance of doing what they wanted. The man's simple question was what is the best path, not if he should do it.

[spleenworship]

I don't think anyone has denied entering this field is incredibly hard. Law school is hard...doing anything lofty is, by it's very nature, difficult. But people here just don't treat things on equal levels. If OP had worded his original post as I want to clerk for CJ Roberts or Scalia or any of the 9 I believe the reception would have been different. We get it. It's fucking difficult. But for those of us at T10 schools who want to end up in the sports field or clerking on SCOTUS or becoming Secretary of ______...our chances are all the same. My point is that this career path is looked down upon like a joke and ultimately ridiculed. No one can argue that.

Something being hard shouldn't deter any of us. The worlds greatest minds, innovators, leaders...the best people in any field had slim to no chance of doing what they wanted. The man's simple question was what is the best path, not if he should do it.

I'm not even going to touch the majority of this post, but I gotta tell you... Law school isn't that hard. Some of the people graduating with me are functionally retarded. I dunno, maybe it's different in the T14, but from what I've read and talked with people about, I doubt it. So.. Yeah. Just don't put law school on a pedestal. Because real doctorates or MD/DO school is hard. Law school is just a grind.

[A. Nony Mouse]

But for those of us at T10 schools who want to end up in the sports field or clerking on SCOTUS or becoming Secretary of ______...our chances are all the same.

wat?

(and for the record, any 0L who showed up here saying they were going to clerk for SCOTUS and what's the best school for that would have received basically the same reaction.)

[goldeneye]

I don't think anyone has denied entering this field is incredibly hard. Law school is hard...doing anything lofty is, by it's very nature, difficult. But people here just don't treat things on equal levels. If OP had worded his original post as I want to clerk for CJ Roberts or Scalia or any of the 9 I believe the reception would have been different. We get it. It's fucking difficult. But for those of us at T10 schools who want to end up in the sports field or clerking on SCOTUS or becoming Secretary of ______...our chances are all the same. My point is that this career path is looked down upon like a joke and ultimately ridiculed. No one can argue that.

Something being hard shouldn't deter any of us. The worlds greatest minds, innovators, leaders...the best people in any field had slim to no chance of doing what they wanted. The man's simple question was what is the best path, not if he should do it.

you're placing law school on way too high a pedestal. also, he asked about being a sports agent and going to law school. everybody's point has been that you don't need one for the other, that in fact it's a waste of time.

and you're chances at becoming SCOTUS or whatever are not increased because you work hard.

[Turtledove]

I don't think anyone has denied entering this field is incredibly hard. Law school is hard...doing anything lofty is, by it's very nature, difficult. But people here just don't treat things on equal levels. If OP had worded his original post as I want to clerk for CJ Roberts or Scalia or any of the 9 I believe the reception would have been different. We get it. It's fucking difficult. But for those of us at T10 schools who want to end up in the sports field or clerking on SCOTUS or becoming Secretary of ______...our chances are all the same. My point is that this career path is looked down upon like a joke and ultimately ridiculed. No one can argue that.

Something being hard shouldn't deter any of us. The worlds greatest minds, innovators, leaders...the best people in any field had slim to no chance of doing what they wanted. The man's simple question was what is the best path, not if he should do it.

That's not the same thing thought. Saying you want to clerk for the supreme court is saying that you want to do something that many lawyers do (clerk before becoming a litigator) but that you want to do exceedingly well at it. The path to becoming a SCOTUS clerk is the same as the general path for becoming a litigator -- ie if you fail, you're not empty-handed. Although it may be a bit starry-eyed you would not be closing off any opportunities by pursuing this goal.

On the other hand, the path to becoming a sports agent is nearly mutually exclusive with the more attainable paths to a career out of law school. If you want to be a sports agent you have the commit yourself to pounding the flesh with athletes all the time and if you're doing that you're probably not concentrating on your GPA (necessary for biglaw or prestige PI) or making connections with local attorneys (necessary for small-firm law and local PI). The one exception to this would be that you could pursue the traditional transactional law path (ie high grades) and gun hard for Proskauer. Although that's not unreasonable, I doubt you would end up as a sports agent even if that worked out. Proskauer's sports law practice isn't really a group of agents but is rather a sports law practice not too dissimilar to any other biglaw practice group (except that the clients are sporting leagues, unions or teams rather than traditional companies).

http://www.proskauer.com/experience/Lis ... 72a3992586

[omzster67]

I don't think anyone has denied entering this field is incredibly hard. Law school is hard...doing anything lofty is, by it's very nature, difficult. But people here just don't treat things on equal levels. If OP had worded his original post as I want to clerk for CJ Roberts or Scalia or any of the 9 I believe the reception would have been different. We get it. It's fucking difficult. But for those of us at T10 schools who want to end up in the sports field or clerking on SCOTUS or becoming Secretary of ______...our chances are all the same. My point is that this career path is looked down upon like a joke and ultimately ridiculed. No one can argue that.

Something being hard shouldn't deter any of us. The worlds greatest minds, innovators, leaders...the best people in any field had slim to no chance of doing what they wanted. The man's simple question was what is the best path, not if he should do it.

you're placing law school on way too high a pedestal. also, he asked about being a sports agent and going to law school. everybody's point has been that you don't need one for the other, that in fact it's a waste of time.

and you're chances at becoming SCOTUS or whatever are not increased because you work hard.

I wasn't placing law school on a pedestal...what I meant is his goal is lofty, and is by mature difficult to accomplish. I by no means think law school is the greatest or hardest thing out there.

I didn't say chances are increased by working hard...what I failed at getting across is that clerking for the CJ or becoming an agent are of equal difficulty when looking at the percentage of us who go to school wAnting to accomplish this and how many of us actually do it. That's just my outside opinion.

As for using a JD to become an agent, it affords one with flexibility in the path of getting there. Without a summer internship at one of the big agencies, one can get into the career or tangentially into "sports" law by working for a league, team, players association, etc. Many of the people in this thread have looked over the fact that money is not an issue here, so law school certainly doesn't hurt in any way other than timing. But again, as I posted earlier, the best and most prominent lawyers have JD's.

To add to the mistaken point that law school is a waste for someone who is aspiring to be an agent, it will ultimately force the individual to specialize in contracts or negotiation or employment law, each of which is a skill or capacity that is required in a number of sub fields of the law so taking this path by no means subjects the OP to a fucked professional career, especially when considering the caliber of schools that are in play.

[Sepa299]

Real talk, OP: Divorce Law. Family friend met a lot of athletes that way lol. Come to find out most didn't have that much money either, FWIW...

[omzster67]

For being so active in this thread I've yet to respond to the poll