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UF Sports Law Symposium to Examine Legal Playbook as Collective Bargaining Agreements expire

By Rick Karcher, Michael McCann, Geoffrey Rapp, Greg Skidmore, and Howard Wasserman

Several of us will be speaking at the University of Florida Levin College of Law on January 29 at the 2010 UF Sports Law Symposium. The general topic is what to expect in the collective bargaining of new agreements in the NBA, NFL, and Major League Baseball. It should be a great event (and for attorneys near Gainesville, there will be CLE credit). Here's a press release:

GAINESVILLE, Fla. ? On Jan. 29 sports agents, litigators, salary cap analyst and sports law students will huddle up at the University of Florida Levin College of Law to get ready for a whole new ball game.

In the next two years, time will expire on the Collective Bargaining Agreements affecting the negotiation of salaries and playing conditions for professional athletes. The 2010 UF Sports Law Symposium, ?Discussion: Bargaining Collectively,? presented by UF?s Entertainment & Sports Law Society, will bring together sports law experts and representatives from the National Football League, National Basketball Association and Major League Baseball to discuss why CBA?s exist, how they help players and owners, and to identify contract terms that will likely be argued before the agreement expires. The free event, set to kick off at 11 a.m. at UF Law?s Chesterfield Smith Ceremonial Classroom 180, will offer CLE credits.

?The 2010 UF Sports Law Symposium will be an excellent forum for students, athletes, professors and others interested in sports law to network and learn from the brightest minds in sports law,? said Darren Heitner, president of UF Entertainment & Sports Law Society.

The keynote speaker for this year?s symposium will be Harvey W. Schiller, Ph.D., who has served as president of the International Baseball Federation since 2007 and is also chairman of the board and CEO of GlobalOptions Group, a multidisciplinary international risk management and business solutions company located in New York. Prior to joining GlobalOptions in 1994, Schiller held posts at Turner Broadcasting System, served as the executive director/secretary general of the United States Olympic Committee and was the commissioner of the Southeastern Conference.

?It?s an honor to be able to address future sports-business leaders in Gainesville,? Schiller said. ?We live in very challenging times where the changes in the way we conduct business occurs in minutes. Adapting and understanding those changes is critical to our success as professionals. It is my hope that forums like the one being held at the University of Florida, provide the framework for the growth of the industry and to inspire further discussion and opportunity.?

Closing the day-long symposium will be Donald Fehr who served as the general counsel of the Major League Baseball Players Association beginning in 1977, and as its executive director for 26 years from December, 1983. In his role as executive director, Fehr served as the players? chief negotiator in collective bargaining with major league owners and was responsible for contract administration, grievance arbitration and pension and health care matters. Fehr will address the role of collective bargaining in professional team sports, and discuss his experiences in his role with the players association.

?Interesting things are on the horizon for the four major professional team sports in North America,? Don Fehr said.

To view the symposium agenda, speaker profiles and designated CLE credits, visit http://www.ufsportslaw.com/symposium.html.

For more information regarding the symposium, contact Darren Heitner at heitner@gmail.com

Full post as published by Sports Law Blog on January 17, 2010 (boomark / email).