• Monday Mentors with Fort Worth Sports Lawyer Christian Dennie

  • Nov 15 2021
  • Length: 47 mins
  • Podcast

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Monday Mentors with Fort Worth Sports Lawyer Christian Dennie

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  • Summary

  • Christian Dennie, a sports lawyer, commercial litigator, and partner at Barlow, Garsek, & Simon in Fort Worth, joins us on today's show. Christian talks about understanding the case, demonstrating grit, and how the new name, image, and likeness legislation is playing out thus far.

    His firm/practice

    Firm is headquartered in Fort Worth with a Southlake office
    Commercial firm (no criminal)
    He focuses on sports clients but does a number of things under that umbrella including arbitration
    Fort Worth / Tarrant County legal practice
    Small town with over 1M people
    Plenty of large businesses
    Lots of lifers
    More local/Texas based firms
    Collegial and supportive of one another
    New name, image, and likeness NCAA rules and state laws, as well as potential changes to the NCAA constitution are significant issues

    Advice to lawyers in practice

    Have someone that will take you under their wing and serve as a mentor to you and help you learn/grow
    You win lawsuits in the library and not the courtroom
    Sometimes the law is not on your side but you need to be creative because things need to change
    Can happen in the courtroom with a decision, OR
    In a settlement or outside of the courtroom...can be just as good as a decision
    Take the case and figure it out
    It's not about sitting in your office 18 hours a day to show that you are committed; but it's not about the hours
    You are a problem solver
    Ideal is to be at a law firm that has enough work that you aren't having to "create time" to meet your billable hour requirements
    Daniel recalls former guest Jim Chester's advice to never leave a partner's office without the DDB (deadline / deliverable / budget).
    Important for the client to understand what they are asking as well
    Formulate a game plan early for how you are going to generate the clients you want
    Put yourself around the clients you want, but with the expertise you have even if that is different than what you ultimately want to do
    Understand the culture/business/environment of the clients you want to serve

    Advice to Lawyers On The Lateral Market

    Demonstrate the work you have done
    How does your work history match what the firm needs
    Is there a cultural fit?
    If you played sports in college or beyond that stands out to him because of the grit factor
    Trial experience, judicial clerkships, real estate deals/closings, employment contract experience all looks good
    If you don't have those things, do you have the interest, curiosity, and willingness to transition

    Sports Law 

    Not a lot of large national deals yet
    2nd Circuit Court of Appeals / Gatto case
    Lots of local/regional deals
    Just making sure they comply with state law, because if they don't then they won't comply with NCAA rules
    Contract can't extend beyond eligibility and there are multiple places in agreements where perpetual licenses are inserted
    Bonuses based on results are not permissible and some of the early contracts had those in there
    Schools are starting to get a better grasp of it
    Texas' law specifically says you can't use logos/marks which can cause issues
    Some schools are trying to figure out how to permit the use
    Houston Travis Scott concert
    Was there adequate security?
    What does the license on the ticket say and do we have an enforceable arbitration clause?
    What if you are forced to click a link to go out and read the fine print of the license?
    Insurance?
    The NCAA recommendations on constitution/bylaw changes is a major issue in college athletics; especially if we see more power pushed down to the conference level

    Rapid Fire Questions

    Name one trait/characteristic you most want to see in an associate: Ability to roll up the sleeves and get after it; willing to do what it takes; send the fax!
    What habit has been key to your success: understanding the client; establishing trust
    Favorite app/productivity tool: Twitter
    What would be listed first on the interest line of your resume: sports and family; stand-up paddle boarding
    Favorite legal movie: A Time to Kill / My Cousin Vinny
    First date of OU/TX in the SEC: 2023

    Thanks again to Christian Dennie for joining us on today's show!
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