Student Voices: Navigating Sports Law at Harvard Law School

Admitted Students Day: A Memorable Experience

When I attended one of Harvard Law School’s Admitted Students Day as an admitted student, I was in awe of the unique clinical options available. HLS has a broad range of in-house clinics and externship clinics. The Sports Law Clinic, one of the externship clinics, immediately piqued my interest because I never heard of sports law before. I had a chance to talk to a student who participated in the Sports Law Clinic. He described how the Clinic places students in legal departments of major leagues or sports teams or with firms representing individual players or teams. The Clinic also funds students to travel to their placement. Ultimately, the current HLS student couldn’t stop raving about the Clinic and promised me it would be one of the best things I could do in law school.

Real-World Applications of HLS Classroom Learning

As a 2L who has now completed the Sports Law Clinic, I can confidently say that the student was right. Through the Clinic, I had the incredible opportunity to travel to Detroit, Michigan, and work for the Detroit Pistons legal and business affairs team during the January Term. The externship was only three weeks, but I was able to get a glimpse into what it is like to work as an in-house counsel for an NBA team.

I was able to work on a wide range of projects for the Pistons. One of my first assignments was to draft an entertainment agreement from scratch. As daunting as that may sound, I was very prepared for the project. Prior to the externship, I took a class called Sports Law: Advanced Contract Drafting. The class required me to negotiate and draft six agreements that sports teams encounter, like stadium leases and sponsorship agreements.

I was able to apply the things I learned in class to the contract for the Pistons. It was also great to see how actual sports in-house attorneys think through different provisions and determine what is necessary to protect the team’s interest.

One of my other assignments included drafting memos for the sponsorship department.  The sponsorship department is constantly exploring new partnership deals with different third parties in various industries. It is the legal department’s responsibility to ensure all agreements comply with NBA rules and regulations, as well as local, state, and federal laws. However, the NBA Operations Manual is very long and detailed, which can be challenging for the sponsorship team to parse. Thus, I was asked to draft memos explaining some of the sponsorship rules and guidelines. It was interesting to see how the team can be constrained and supported by the NBA and its various rules.

Reflecting on a Unique J-Term Experience

Overall, I could not have had a better J-Term experience. I met some incredible people and worked on exciting projects. I even went to a couple of games and explored the city in my free time. It was also the perfect time to be in Detroit as a basketball fan. The Pistons were finally starting to perform better after a rough couple of seasons. Their success energized the city. It was truly beautiful to witness fans falling in love with their team and city again. Even I left Detroit as a fan of “Deee-troit Basketball.”

–Akosua (Kos) Twum-Antwi ’26