Our experienced sports lawyers are versed in a range of legal issues relating to interscholastic, collegiate and professional athletics, including contracts, league governance disputes, anti-corruption matters, and name, image and likeness (NIL) counseling.
The Sports Litigation & Counseling group represents clients across the spectrum of athletics, from governing bodies and enforcement agencies, to Olympians and college athletes. This collaborative team is experienced in numerous areas of sports law including antitrust, business torts, contracts, negligence and professional liability. As litigation attorneys, we also investigate and prosecute professional athletes involved in match-fixing and other types of sports corruption.
The sports lawyers at Smith Hulsey & Busey drafted the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP), the uniform anti-corruption rules for the governing bodies of professional tennis worldwide. The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), International Tennis Federation (ITF), and Grand Slam Board have all adopted the program.
The firm also represents the London-based International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) – formerly the Tennis Integrity Unit – in arbitration proceedings involving professional tennis players who violate the TACP. In this context, our lawyers regularly appear in arbitration proceedings in London and in appeals before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.
At the interscholastic and collegiate level, we advise student-athletes, their families and other entities on legal issues related to name, image and likeness (NIL) , including contract drafting; federal/state legislation, regulation and rulemaking; federal/state court litigation; and institutional, conference and associational administration. Our Sports Litigation & Counseling attorneys stay at the leading edge of developments as this new frontier of sports law evolves.
Areas of focus:
- Arbitration
- Employment issues
- Governance
- Litigation
- Reorganizations
- Strategic joint ventures
- Athlete rights
