Areas of Practice

Sports and entertainment law is a growing body of law that requires unique knowledge and understanding of the sports community.  With an inside view of the sports world, the Firm has the perspective and knowledge to help clients identify and respond to emerging trends in the industry. The firm has proven experience in sports-related disputes and negotiations.  The Firm has the knowledge and experience to represent professional and amateur sports organizations, entities, administrators, and athletes in a variety of transactions and legal disputes, including, commercial litigation; contractual disputes; licensing, media, and sponsorship agreements; real estate acquisition and leases; preparation of policies and procedures; labor and employment issues; and many others.  Professional and amateur sports organizations, schools districts, institutions of higher learning, sports related businesses, media personalities, coaches, and athletes cannot afford to be without knowledgeable and effective legal counsel.  The Firm’s vast experience in the sports industry has involved representation in matters involving, for example, baseball, basketball, boxing, cross country, crossfit, fishing, football, futsal, golf, gymnastics, hockey, lacrosse, rowing, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling.

Amateur Sports

Amateur sports are growing at a rapid pace and media outlets are becoming more concentrated with amateur sporting events. The Firm is uniquely qualified in its ability to counsel school districts, financial institutions, athletes, amateur sports organizations, event organizers, and governing bodies in a variety of areas, including, radio and television agreements; facilities agreements; licensing, media, and sponsorship agreements; contractual issues; and publicity surrounding amateur sporting events.

Representation of Coaches

A coach’s success is of vital importance.  The Firm offers creative advice and counsel that can help you succeed personally and professionally.  The Firm provides business and legal solutions to coaches on a wide array of issues including: negotiation of contracts and employment matters, career management, representation involving NCAA compliance matters and other investigative matters, marketing and endorsement opportunities, and quick and decisive legal strategy in times of crisis and scandal.  The Firm’s goal is to see each coach maximize financial opportunities, locate the best opportunity that will allow the coach to flourish personally and professionally, and manage your career with you.

Labor Unions and Trade Associations

The Firm actively represents labor organizations and trade associations in, among other things, negotiations and disputes with employers and professional bodies.  The Firm has been actively involved in collective bargaining negotiations and representing unions and trade associations and members in disputes and grievances with employers.  Additionally, the Firm provides counsel to labor unions and trade associations on a number of other matters including barter agreements and sponsorship agreements, entity creation and filing, non-profit status, tax matters, and a number of other matters.

Professional Athletes and Athlete Representatives

Professional athletes are bombarded with requests and demands on their time and pocketbooks. The Firm has counseled and worked with professional athletes on a number matters including pre-nuptial and post-nuptial agreements, career counseling, right of publicity matters, ICANN disputes, sponsorship agreements, and preparing wills and trusts.  The Firm advises and prepares professional athletes and their representatives for major business decisions.  Additionally, the Firm represents professional athletes and their representatives in litigation before a number of tribunals including state and federal courts and arbitration panels including matters relating to salary arbitration, grievances, and appeals from decisions of governing bodies and teams.

Athletics Business Matters, Bargaining, and Litigation

Over the course of the last twenty years, agreements relating to athletics have changed from “handshake” deals to heavily negotiated contractual agreements and litigation has increased substantially.  The Firm has provided counsel to major professional sports franchises, public and private institutions, sports unions, amateur sports organizations, athletes, and several other athletic-related entities in a variety of disputes and business matters.  Additionally, the Firm provides counsel and support on a wide range of matters impacting athletic-related businesses, including, but not limited to, negotiation and preparation of employment agreements for coaches and administrators; negotiation and preparation of radio and television agreements; negotiation and preparation of licensing, media, and sponsorship agreements; drug test policies; negotiation and preparation of bowl game and championship event agreements; negotiation and preparation of facilities agreements; collective bargaining; intellectual property protection; antitrust disputes; litigation and dispute resolution; economic development initiatives; and real property transactions.

Apparel, Equipment and Athletic Service Businesses

Professional sports organizations and the NCAA heavily regulate the use of athletic apparel, equipment, and services in professional and intercollegiate athletics, respectively. Athletic apparel, equipment, and service companies desiring to have their products and services made available to professional sports franchises and NCAA member institutions will need counsel with working knowledge of professional and NCAA rules and governance to guide them through the requirements necessary to sanction their products. The Firm will assist athletic apparel and equipment companies in obtaining approval by explaining the sanctioning process, determining required technical specifications pursuant to organization rules, and making product presentations to appropriate committees.

Other Sports and Entertainment Matters

The Firm offers a litany of services to athletes and entertainers, coaches, sports organizations, teams and clubs, leagues, and colleges and universities that can found found on the following pages: Appellate, Arbitration and Mediation, Athletes in Business, Business and Commercial Litigation, College Sports and NCAA, Corporate, Crisis Management, Drug Testing and Doping Disputes, Estate Planning and Asset Protection, Employment and Labor, Intellectual Property, Investigations in Sports and Entertainment, Loss of Value and Disability Disputes, Name, Image, and Likeness, Nonprofits, Real Estate and Construction, and Sports Tech.

The Firm has a longstanding and extensive trial practice and is well-versed in courtroom proceedings and trial strategies and tactics. The Firm has represented clients on both sides of the docket including individuals, sports organizations and associations, institutions of higher learning, amateur and professional athletes, coaches, conference offices, sports agents, sports agencies, employers, employees, Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, publicly traded companies, privately held companies, nonprofits, religious organizations, municipalities, property owners, construction companies, developers, banks, real estate brokers and agents, and landlords and tenants. The Firm has successfully represented clients in claims for breach of contract, employment and labor disputes, violations of the Texas Property Code, violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, violations of the Copyright Act, violations of the Lanham Act, violations of Title IX, misappropriation, fraud, fraud in a real estate transaction, trespass to try title actions, declaratory judgment proceedings relating to boundary disputes, negligence, products liability, NCAA infractions, and numerous other claims. The Firm brings an aggressive, yet conscientious, approach to litigation that has produced successful results for his clients at the trial and appellate levels.

The Firm provides a wide range of alternative dispute resolution services as both advocates, mediators, and arbitrators. The Firm provides the parties with their thorough knowledge of the law and uses techniques to allow parties to decide their own fate in mediation or allow an arbitrator to do so in arbitration. The Firm mediates and arbitrates in the following areas, among others, business, commercial, construction, employment, estate and probate, healthcare, intellectual property, municipal, labor, personal injury, real estate, and sports and entertainment matters. Christian Dennie is a Member of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. Christian has received appointments to serve as a neutral for American Arbitration Association (AAA), International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), JAMS, New Era, National Arbitration Forum (Forum), Construction Dispute Resolution Services (CDRS), United States Council for International Business (USCIB), London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), American Health Lawyers Association DRS, DeMars & Associates, Alternative Dispute Resolution Services International, National Futures Association, Texas Tax Appraisal Arbitration, and Resolute Systems. In addition to mediation and arbitration, Christian is available to serve as an early neutral evaluator, private judge, referee, umpire, and special master.

The Firm has a long history of representing clients before appellate bodies and obtaining solid results. The Firm has stepped in when a client has lost badly and worked to overturn the results handed down by judges and juries. Additionally, the Firm has litigated from the inception of the case through proceedings before appellate courts and has successfully upheld the findings of the trial court. The Firm thoroughly reviews each case to determine the most advantageous route to attack a judgment or seek to uphold the judgment.

Many former (and sometimes current) college and professional athletes turn to entrepreneurship after their playing careers conclude. Entrepreneurship is an obvious career choice for athletes, because there are so many similarities between sports and starting and running a business. Athletes work long hours honing their skills, fight through setbacks and injuries, compete with different personalities and backgrounds, and (last but not least) perform in competition. Similarly, entrepreneurs work feverishly and industriously to launch their businesses and sometimes just to stay afloat, overcome numerous issues and obstacles, work with people with diverging thoughts, interests, and ideas, and compete to make their companies viable and relevant in the marketplace.

The Firm speaks the language athletes are used to hearing and understands the perspective of the athlete and the entrepreneur. The Firm often serves as outside general counsel and a trusted legal advisor to current and former athletes turned entrepreneurs. The Firm has created legal entities, drafted contracts and agreements, purchased real estate, and a litigated a litany of issues and matters. The Firm provides specialized expertise to assist current and former athletes work towards their next goal and analyze risks associated with becoming a success in business.

College sports presents a unique set of legal issues and challenges.  The Firm provides two decades of experience counseling colleges and universities, coaches, administrators, and athletes through extensive and complex matters.  The Firm has a track record of success earned from working on major college campuses. 

NCAA Compliance and Infractions
NCAA member institutions, coaches, administrators, and student-athletes need effective and zealous representation when faced with potential infractions and investigations conducted by regulatory bodies. The Firm combines extensive litigation experience with the on-campus knowledge of NCAA compliance. Christian provides his extensive investigative experience to determine all of the facts and evidence that comprise each individual case and will work cooperatively with NCAA and conference representatives while advocating for the rights of the institution, administrators, coaches, and student-athletes. If an alleged violation is not supported, Christian will develop focused and persuasive arguments on behalf of its client through pinpointed evidence, zealous oral advocacy, and multimedia presentations. When an alleged violation is proven, Christian will help the institution to mitigate the consequences and identify ways to enhance its rules education and monitoring programs to ensure violations will not reoccur.

Christina has developed the “Champion” program to help an institution to adequately monitor athletics programs and maintain the integrity of the institution.  The “Champion” program provides direction for institutions to establish compliance guidelines in an effort to remain free of NCAA infractions and penalties.  The “Champion” program is as follows:

Complete Department Involvement
Have Documentation
Adhere to University, Conference, and NCAA Rules
Maintain Checks and Balances
Policies and Procedures
Institutional Control
Ongoing and Comprehensive Education
Never Forget to Ask

When the NCAA enforcement staff calls, the Firm will provide the legal assistance and investigative skills necessary to walk institutions, coaches, administrators, and student-athletes through the difficult process.  No investigation is too big or too small.

NCAA Compliance Reviews
The Firm reviews an institution’s current compliance program and develops a specific list of recommendations. This evaluation is based upon lengthy interviews with both athletics and non-athletics  staff and review of available information and policies.  The Firm reviews, among other things, benefits and awards (Bylaw 16), amateurism (Bylaw 12), eligibility (Bylaw 14), financial aid (Bylaw 15), practice and playing seasons (Bylaw 17), recruiting (Bylaw 13), and others. The areas to be reviewed are chosen by the institution.

Investigations
The Firm has extensive investigative experience. The Firm has led investigations into matters including, NCAA infractions, Title IX, player misconduct, coach misconduct, violations of internal policies, and many other areas.  The Firm works industriously to limit exposure and provide recommendations to improve practices moving forward so issues and infractions do not arise again. 

Drug Testing and Anti-Doping
The Firm has extensive experience working with college athletes and advising colleges and universities regarding drug testing and anti-doping.  The Firm has been successful in obtaining complete exoneration of all anti-doping findings and reductions of suspensions under NCAA policies and procedures. 

In sports and entertainment, and business in general, crisis can emerge immediately and requires swift action. The Firm has substantial experience advising clients in crisis and is experienced in developing and implementing an effective plan to address the crisis at hand.  Whether it is crafting a communication plan or developing a legal strategy to protect the client’s interests, the Firm is adept at assisting clients working through the most strenuous times.  For example, the Firm has advised a NFL first round draft pick through an extortion attempt on the eve of the NFL Draft, professional athletes who have been arrested following physical altercations, a professional sports franchise accused of damaging the career of an athletes in the handling of an injury, and sports labor organization after the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement and the possibility of a lockout.  In each circumstance, the Firm quickly and effectively navigated media scrutiny and attention and prepared for litigation.  

The Firm provides corporate and transactional services to a wide variety of clients. The Firm works closely with countless companies and individuals, advising boards of directors and senior management on significant issues affecting organizations and their businesses and individuals on matters related from entity formation to disposition.  The Firm’s corporate and transactional practice encompasses services related to entity structuring and formation, contract drafting and negotiation, shareholder agreements, buy-sell agreements, partnership agreements, company agreements, bylaws, stock purchase agreements, stock option plans and agreements of many types. The Firm regularly represents clients in mergers, acquisitions and dispositions.

The Firm has experience working on drug testing and doping disputes as an advocate for athletes and as an administrator on college campuses.  Members of the Firm have overseen institutional drug testing and compliance, drafted drug testing and doping policies, and negotiated drug testing policies in collective bargaining agreements.  This experience provides the Firm with the knowledge and skills to effectively navigate drug testing and doping disputes. The Firm has worked with athletes in a variety of doping disputes before governing bodies at both the professional and amateur level.  In many cases, the Firm has successfully argued for complete exoneration and reductions in suspensions.