NFL In-House Lawyer - taking Qs Forum

[Anonymous User]

I posted a thread last year around this time but deleted my posts because I was way too specific and would have been recognized in one second if anyone who knew me saw it.

I work in house for an NFL team and now have over one year under my belt. I don't have much in the way of advice of how to get a job like this. I was lucky. But I know there's many law students interested in getting into the sports field and a general lack of information out there about what someone like me does.

Ask away. I will answer questions as specifically as possible without revealing anything that may out me. Will check back tomorrow to see if there's any Qs.

[dixiecupdrinking]

I posted a thread last year around this time but deleted my posts because I was way too specific and would have been recognized in one second if anyone who knew me saw it.

I work in house for an NFL team and now have over one year under my belt. I don't have much in the way of advice of how to get a job like this. I was lucky. But I know there's many law students interested in getting into the sports field and a general lack of information out there about what someone like me does.

Ask away. I will answer questions as specifically as possible without revealing anything that may out me. Will check back tomorrow to see if there's any Qs.

Did you come from a firm? What kind of things do you work on?

I'm having a hard time thinking of questions that aren't likely to out you.

[snagglepuss]

What are the hours like (also, are your hours the same year round)?

How much traveling is involved and do you go to all your team's games?

How many lawyers do you estimate are in the NFL (like 2 or 3 per team?)?

[xRON MEXiCOx]

Is your job as badass as it sounds?

[Danger Zone]

Did your NFL team's current coach serve as the head coach at the university that you went to undergrad for?

[Anonymous User]

I posted a thread last year around this time but deleted my posts because I was way too specific and would have been recognized in one second if anyone who knew me saw it.

I work in house for an NFL team and now have over one year under my belt. I don't have much in the way of advice of how to get a job like this. I was lucky. But I know there's many law students interested in getting into the sports field and a general lack of information out there about what someone like me does.

Ask away. I will answer questions as specifically as possible without revealing anything that may out me. Will check back tomorrow to see if there's any Qs.

Did you come from a firm? What kind of things do you work on?

I'm having a hard time thinking of questions that aren't likely to out you.

OP here. Did not come from a firm. Came straight from LS after interning here. Did not have any connections prior to internship.
I know this is unusual - as you probably know, the typical route is working at a big firm and having the team as your client, and getting in that way.

I work on anything and everything, except I don't do anything related to player contracts or the CBA (which might be what some people think is the only thing team lawyers do). I draft and negotiate marketing and sponsorship deals, suite and club seat agreements, contests and sweepstakes, work through legal issues with biz dev., handle some litigation matters in-house and work with our outside counsel to handle others, all the way down to dealing with disgruntled patrons who threaten to sue.

[Anonymous User]

What are the hours like (also, are your hours the same year round)?

How much traveling is involved and do you go to all your team's games?

How many lawyers do you estimate are in the NFL (like 2 or 3 per team?)?

OP. Typical hours are 8:30 - 5:30 M-F; sometimes I come in early or stay late. Boss doesn't really care so long as I get my work done well. Rarely weekend work but it's happened on occasion.

No traveling except within the region. I've only gone to two home games this year - a perk but not a requirement.

I would say 2-3 lawyers per team is a good estimate. The league itself has a whole hoard of lawyers - I've dealt with 5-6 myself and there's a bunch I haven't dealt with.

[Anonymous User]

Is your job as badass as it sounds?

I like to think so.

[Anonymous User]

Did your NFL team's current coach serve as the head coach at the university that you went to undergrad for?

Not sure if a serious question, but no.

[CitrusFruit]

Thanks for doing this! Two Qs:

What's the $$$ like?

Also, how would you recommend someone go about getting a job in the NFL either doing what you do or negotiating contracts?

[mehiguess]

Did you attend a T14 law school?

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for doing this! Two Qs:

What's the $$$ like?

Also, how would you recommend someone go about getting a job in the NFL either doing what you do or negotiating contracts?

My pay is more than shitlaw but way less than biglaw. I'm in kind of a unique situation though, since I did not have firm experience before coming in. I'm sure most people in my position make more.

Hard to give recommendations. Most people get with a team/league by working for a big firm and serving as outside counsel and then hope to be the person who gets offered a spot with a team when one opens up. There's a lot of luck involved. That being said, while in LS reach out to the GC at whatever teams you're interested in for an internship (if you go to school in the same city as a team, offer to help 1-2 days during a semester). Teams and leagues will virtually never post internships or jobs, so take the initiative. You'd be surprised how few people ask - I don't think it's due to a lack of interest, more so that people assume it will be pointless to inquire/apply. Even if the internship is highly unlikely to lead to a job, you would get experience, have a resume boost, and you never know - could lead to something down the road.

[Anonymous User]

Did you attend a T14 law school?

Nope

[Louis1127]

Is the recent controversy over concussions giving you a headache right now in your job? Or do the other lawyers you were talking about deal with that?

[sumner]

how did you apply for the internship? was it a random mass mail or a job posting?

[Anonymous User]

Is the recent controversy over concussions giving you a headache right now in your job? Or do the other lawyers you were talking about deal with that?

I work for one of the teams and not the league (should have made clearer in title) and we're not dealing with that as far as I know. I'd imagine it's a huge headache for the league lawyers though

[Anonymous User]

how did you apply for the internship? was it a random mass mail or a job posting?

It was a Simplicity post, but I know other teams don't post and take on interns

[whatsEwingdoing]

Where did you graduate in your class percentage-wise? and I'm guessing you did your internship during the 2L summer?

[Anonymous User]

Where did you graduate in your class percentage-wise? and I'm guessing you did your internship during the 2L summer?

Was above median but no honors. Yes, interned during 2L summer

[ZeffKay]

In the NFL do the teams handle any media rights or is that only for the league office because of the national TV deals? And considering the different set up in the other three leagues, do you know if your counterparts in those teams are dealing with these contracts?

For someone interested in keeping up with the types of issues facing sports, do you recommend any particular news source? How do you keep up on the goings-on of the industry? Particular websites, newsletters, etc.?

Do you feel as if your position (the non-CBA side) is in any sort of danger from the incredible turn-over in GMs and front-office personnel in general?

And thank you for volunteering for this.

[Anonymous User]

In the NFL do the teams handle any media rights or is that only for the league office because of the national TV deals? And considering the different set up in the other three leagues, do you know if your counterparts in those teams are dealing with these contracts?

For someone interested in keeping up with the types of issues facing sports, do you recommend any particular news source? How do you keep up on the goings-on of the industry? Particular websites, newsletters, etc.?

Do you feel as if your position (the non-CBA side) is in any sort of danger from the incredible turn-over in GMs and front-office personnel in general?

And thank you for volunteering for this.

NFL does the big national TV and radio deals, but teams do everything else. I've done broadcast agreements with local TV stations for preseason games, and because our team has its own TV and radio programs we do various media/broadcast agreements for those. Not sure how it works for the other leagues, although I get the impression that NFL handles more in-house than the others.

I probably keep up with sports the same way everyone else does - through ESPN and other major sports sites. They actually report often on legal issues. I also get periodic e-mails from NFL legal about new league resolutions and policies that affect the clubs, which I always read.

This may narrow where I work, but there's not going to be any major change in ownership or GM here anytime soon, so that hasn't really crossed my mind. Not sure whether team counsel often changes when there's a new GM or owner; I'd imagine the turnover is about the same for other front-office positions.

[Anonymous User]

What type of law did you study to get that job?

[Anonymous User]

Thanks for doing this! Two Qs:

What's the $$$ like?

Also, how would you recommend someone go about getting a job in the NFL either doing what you do or negotiating contracts?

I'm not the OP, but I worked in the NFL before going to law school. Negotiating contracts is hard to land. Many of the guys doing that job don't have law degrees. It's generally handled by the person responsible for monitoring the cap and others who work for him. Anything in the NFL is hard to land, but the football support jobs are especially hard to land. The easiest way to do that is to intern and hope there's an opening at the right time. You can also try to go the route of working for the NFL League Office monitoring the cap (there is generally a summer internship doing this each year if you keep an eye on NFL.com) or the NFL Management Council in the same role. Again, it's hard to land either of those jobs, but if you do, they're likely to land you with a team.

[1styearlateral]

What type of law did you study to get that job?

???

[albanach]

Have you had an opportunity to send a letter like this one?