Twenty-four hours in a day means eight hours for a full time job, eight hours to sleep and eight hours for another full time job, said Tim Green, a Syracuse University alumnus.

Green, a Class of 1986 SU graduate who also earned a degree from the College of Law in 1994, was the keynote speaker at SU’s second annual Entertainment and Sports Law Symposium (ESLS), which took place in Dineen Hall’s Melanie Gray Ceremonial Courtroom on Saturday.

The symposium hosted panels of practicing lawyers and law professors to talk about current events, issues and the future of law.

Green recounted his time at SU as a student and a football player, when he set the record — which still stands — for most sacrifices in a career.

Though he was a first round draft pick for the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons, Green said he had foresight that his career would end one day.

During the NFL offseason, Green attended SU’s College of Law, trained until he was sore, spent time with his wife and five children and worked on a manuscript for a book every day for five years, he said.

Green’s first manuscript failed to get published.

“My agent just fired me,” Green said. “I’m supposed to fire them!”

Upon his later retirement from football, Green wrote a book that later became a New York Times best-seller. He began commentating on NPR and Fox Sports and became a practicing attorney. He is now a partner of his own law firm.

As the keynote speaker at ESLS, Green spoke to students wanting to work for the media, sports and law industries — the things he already does.

Most of those in attendance were students of the College of Law, the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics and the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications.

The first panel, titled “Working as General & Outside Counsel in Sports,” featured four law experts: Jeffrey Gewirtz, chief legal officer for the Brooklyn Nets; Joseph Hanna, a Class of 2014 SU graduate and a partner with Goldberg Segalla; Lisa Levine, a Class of 1996 graduate of SU’s College of Law and the general counsel for the United States Soccer Federation; and Stephanie Viscelli Cicci, a Class of 1992 graduate of SU’s College of Law and an attorney for Petrone Risk.

The four panelists spoke about their job experiences entering the law field and working as inside and outside counsels in sports law.

Hanna was hired right out of law school with no experience and became the youngest attorney to be named Lawyer of the Year by the Bar Association of Erie County.
Hanna said his current boss discovered he played baseball in college, then hired him in hopes to win Lawyer League Softball. Hanna later found himself coaching the little league baseball team of his boss’s son.

“Lawyer League Softball is how I got my job,” he said.

Gewirtz said the most important rule as general counsel is to know when to go outside of the company and find someone who is smarter than you.

Cicci disagreed, saying that outside counsels aren’t necessarily smarter, but just come in because inside counsels don’t have the time.

The second panel, “Issues in Entertainment Law & Media Law,” featured panelists Dave Dreilinger, an SU Class of 1969 alumnus and a 1973 graduate of the College of Law, and Frank Ryan, an SU Class of 1994 alumnus and a 1997 graduate of the College of Law.

Dreilinger and Ryan discussed the popularity of entertainment suits regarding ownership of intellectual property, fair use and publicity.

Ryan said more often individuals are looking to protect their rights, adding that they have more pride and ownership with their own names.

“Entertainment suits are not frivolous, but people try to monetize as much as they can,” Dreilinger said. “It will get worse.”

The two agreed that in the entertainment industry, lawyers must pursue the theft of intellectual property, even if it is not economical.

The third panel, called “NCAA Controversies & The Future of College Athletics,” centered around current court cases that dealt with student athletes’ deserved earnings.

The panelists were Kimberly Keenan-Kirkpatrick, deputy athletics director at SU; John Wolohan, professor of sport management in the Falk College; and Brian Mahoney, member at Harris Beach PLLC.

Kirkpatrick said the NCAA is “making more student-athlete friendly rules and making the lives of student-athletes better,” while Wolohan said he does not believe the NCAA allows colleges to pay students enough.

Justin Kim, a second-year law student and public relations graduate student, said this year’s ESLS was a success and grew a lot from last year.

“In class, we never really get to ask lawyers how they got to where they are,” Kim said. “It isn’t a strict formula. … From ESLS, I was able to gain insight from a practical standpoint.”

 

Published on February 7, 2016 at 11:03 pm

Contact Anjani: asiman@syr.edu