Christian Dennie

In his more than twenty (20) year career, Christian has distinguished himself as a diverse litigation and transactional attorney with a focus on the intersection of law, business, and sports and a community leader through his work with the Leadoff Project and other organizations.  Christian has served as a partner at a boutique firm in Fort Worth, Texas and as a partner and co-head of the sports practice group of an AmLaw 100 firm.  Christian was also previously employed by the University of Oklahoma Department of Athletics and the University of Missouri Department of Athletics. In college, Christian was the centerfielder on the Division I baseball team at Sam Houston State University. 

Christian is a business-minded lawyer who balances legal risk with strategic initiatives for clients and has the ability to handle complex regulatory, governance, and business matters and initiatives in fast-paced environments quickly building trusted relationships with multiple stakeholders. He combines his experience as a Division I athlete, attorney, arbitrator, mediator, investigator, and law professor to consider and address different angles of disputes and business deals to give his clients a competitive advantage.  He has extensive experience working on high-profile and complex matters including media rights agreements and programming, labor and employment matters, executive contracts, sponsorship agreements, collective bargaining, name, image, and likeness (NIL) and revenue sharing agreements, licensing, intellectual property (IP) protection, Title IX, NCAA investigations and compliance, risk and mitigation strategies, constitutions and bylaws, grant of rights, bowl and conference championships, advising boards and executive committees, facilities agreements, investigations, conference realignment, drug testing and anti-doping, and complex litigation and arbitration. Christian has also served as outside general counsel for multiple clients in the sports and entertainment industry including a sports agency, media company, union of professional sports officials, Division I and II conferences, professional sports leagues, and many others.  He has represented clients in more than 35 different sports.

He has represented clients on both sides of the docket including conferences, sports organizations and associations, Olympic bodies, professional teams and franchises, institutions of higher learning, amateur and professional athletes, coaches, recruiting services, Fortune 500 companies, start-ups, non-profits, and many others. Christian has represented hundreds of athletes and entertainers in a wide array of litigated matters, transactions, and appeals. He is a trusted adviser to coaches and athletes in regards to estate planning and asset protection, branding, and career planning. Additionally, Christian commonly advises professional athletes on the legal aspects of investment opportunities, entity creation, and resolving and litigating disputes including those that gain significant media attention. 

Christian also regularly conducts investigations for fraud, embezzlement, sexual misconduct and sexual harassment, violations of NCAA rules, Title IX violations, alleged improper treatment and harassment of athletes, construction fatalities, human resources and employment matters, and misconduct in secondary private schools and religious organizations.

Christian is a highly regarded arbitrator and mediator. He uses his experience trying more than 65 cases before judges, juries, arbitrators, and administrative bodies to help parties resolve disputes through mediation or decide their cases through arbitration.  He has served as an arbitrator in more than 650 cases and mediator in more than 150 mediations. He is a panelist for the American Arbitration Association (AAA), International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), New Era ADR, FAIR Sports, National Arbitration Forum (Forum), Construction Dispute Resolution Services (CDRS), DeMars & Associates, Ltd., U.S. Center for SafeSport, and the U.S. Soccer Grievance Hearing Panel. Christian has been recognized as a Fellow by the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and is a Member of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals.

Christian is a sought-after commentator, speaker and author. He has had ten (10) law review articles published in law journals at the University of Memphis, University of North Carolina, University of Mississippi, Syracuse University, University of Arkansas, University of Virginia, University of Texas, Seton Hall University and Tulane University. Christian has also published legal commentary in industry publications such as the Texas Bar Journal, Chronicle of Higher Education, Andrews Entertainment Industry Litigation Reporter, Journal of Issues in Intercollegiate Athletics, and the Sports Litigation Alert. He has also served as a panelist, speaker, or moderator for events at Harvard Law School, Duke Law School, the University of Virginia School of Law, University of North Carolina, Texas A&M School of Law, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, Sam Houston State University, the Heartland Conference, Lone Star Conference, Big 12 Conference, NCAA, Dallas Bar Association, Tarrant County Bar Association, Houston Bar Association and Austin Bar Association.

For his work, Christian has been honored as a “top attorney” (or similar designation) by Super Lawyers (as featured in Texas Monthly and Law & Politics Magazine), Fort Worth, Texas Magazine, 360 West Magazine, Corp. Today Magazine, Acquisition International, Expertise, National Diversity Council, and Wealth & Finance International.