Shackelford’s attorneys are seasoned in handling contract negotiations, labor and employment law and general business law to address the wide variety of issues that arise in sports.
Our sports practice team has experience handling transactional and litigation matters faced by the many individuals and organizations involved in amateur, collegiate, and professional sports. Our team has been involved in providing advice relating to charitable activities, tournaments, business formation and/or acquisition, estate planning, family law matters and related real estate matters.
Our team has experience confronting the complex legal challenges faced by the sports law space, including liability and professional insurance claims, intellectual property, employment liability, traditional labor disputes, player endorsements, rules compliance, and the implementation of sport specific safety-related protocols. Our approach is to employ our strategically focused legal resources to contain any threat and mount the best suited defense or offense, which is particular to our clients’ needs.
Some examples of our capabilities in the sports industry include:
- General business advice and personal counsel.
- Copyright and trademark prosecution and defense, infringement actions, right of publicity, false light, inappropriate use of name and likeness, and defamation and disparagement.
- Professional and personal liability claims.
- Employment claims, including wrongful termination, sexual harassment, breach of personal services contracts, including morals clause violations.
- Employment liability claims, including wrongful termination, sexual harassment, discrimination, breach of contract, breach of restrictive covenants for competition, hiring, or distribution of confidential information.
- Commercial litigation involving breach of contract, disputes over rights and obligations with respect to ownership, rights, and royalties.
- Crisis management and public relations counsel.
- Protection of ownership of materials and trade secrets created for your company.
- NCAA eligibility, compliance, investigations, and infraction proceedings.
- Business entity formation and governance.
- Contract review and negotiation, including marketing contracts.
- Asset protection and estate planning.
From helping to resolve disputes, negotiate the best real estate deal to planning for retirement, we deliver the legal tools that our sports clients need to effectively manage their talents and careers. Shackelford also has a robust family law section in the event such services are needed.
Our sports team also has the resources to advise on all transactional and real estate deals that might arise in the sports industry. In particular, Shackelford represents some of the largest golf and recreation companies in the country. Our sports clients include the PGA of America – Northern Texas Section, as well as professional athletes.
