Sports Law Clinic 2009

Applications for the 2009 clinic due Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Clinical placements in the field of sports law will be available in Spring 2009 in a variety of settings including legal departments of major leagues or sports franchises, and with law firms and lawyers doing sports law in representing individual players or teams/leagues. Placements will be coordinated by Peter Carfagna, instructor of Sports Law courses at HLS.

Priority will be given to students who have taken or are enrolled in Sports and the Law: Introduction -- Examining the Legal History and Evolution of America's Three "Major League" Sports: MLB, NFL and NBA (Fall), Sports and the Law: Representing the Professional Athlete(Spring), or Sports and the Law: Representing Advanced Contract Drafting: Seminar (Spring). Students who have already completed a Sports Law course and are accepted into the clinic would only take the clinical component in the spring semester. Students who are accepted into the clinic and will not have completed a Sports Law course by the spring semester would have to take one of the spring Sports Law courses. 

In rare situations, fall or winter clinical placements may be available. If you are interested in a fall or winter clinical in addition to a spring clinical, please mention it in your application's letter of interest. 

To Apply: Admission into the Sports Law clinic is by permission and at the discretion of the instructor. To apply, submit the following materials to the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Programs in Austin 102 or to clinical@law.harvard.edu by October 1, 2008: 

• Resume
• Letter of interest that describes the types of placements preferred and any applicable sports law experience (letters may be addressed to Peter Carfagna). 

Placements: Placements are coordinated between the student and Professor Peter Carfagna. Most placements are long-distance. You should indicate the type of placements or subject areas you are interested in within the letter of interest. If you have a contact or past experience with a Sports Law agency that you want to work with in this clinical, make sure to include that in the letter of interest. Note that you will likely have to commit to the clinical prior to knowing your specific placement. Below are past placements to provide an example of the opportunities available through the Sports Law clinic, but placements are not limited to the agencies below. Past placements include: 

• IMG (Legal Department)
• Boston Celtics
• Cleveland Browns
• Shearman & Sterling (creation of a new women’s professional soccer league)
• Chicago Bears
• Skadden Arps - New York
• Boston Red Sox
• Nicola, Gudbranson & Cooper, LLC
• Fantasy Sports Ventures, LLC
• Major League Baseball
• Seattle Mariners 

Questions: The students below participated in the Sports Law clinic in 07-08 and have offered to answer questions from students interested in applying to next year's Sports Law clinic: 

• Megha Parekh: mparekh@jd09.law.harvard.edu 
• Alison Healey: ahealey@jd08.law.harvard.edu

Questions about the application process or registration can be directed to the Office of Clinical and Pro Bono Program (clinical@law.harvard.edu).