Students win Weiler Awards

Three Harvard Law School students – Rebecca Johnson J.D. ’17, Scott Sherman J.D. ’17, and Gia Velasquez J.D. ’18 – were honored with Weiler Awards presented at the Committee on Sports and Entertainment Law’s 2017 Symposium. The awards are presented annually to eligible students who have participated in the HLS Sports and Entertainment Law Courses, in the Committee on Sports and Entertainment Law and the Journal on Sports and Entertainment Law activities, as well as in clinical placements through the Sports Law Clinic.

Rebecca Johnson, J.D. ’17

On campus, Rebecca has served as Co-Editor in Chief of the Journal on Sports and Entertainment Law and as the Director of External Affairs for the Women’s Law Association. She has also been involved with the Committee on Sports and Entertainment Law and participated in the Sports Law Clinic in January, 2016. Rebecca spent her 1L summer at the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania in appeals and her 2L summer at the Fox Rothschild, LLP in Pittsburg.

Scott Sherman, J.D. ’17

At Harvard Law School, Scott has been an active participant in the sports law program. He has taken all three of Professor Carfagna’s classes, written an independent study paper on “Deflategate” and currently serves as the president of the Committee on Sports and Entertainment Law and an Executive Editor of the Journal on Sports and Entertainment Law. 

During his 1L summer, Scott worked in the labor relations department of Major League Baseball, and has served as a legal intern for the Boston Celtics and Brooklyn Nets through the Sports Law Clinic.

“I am truly honored to win a Weiler Award” Scott said. “One of the main factors that drew me to Harvard Law was the breadth of the sports law program here, so it means a lot to be recognized for my work in that very program.”

This fall, Scott will be joining the litigation department at Winston & Strawn in New York, where he hopes to pursue a career in sports law.

Gia Velasquez, J.D. ’18

At Harvard, Gia has been involved in the Journal of Law and Technology and the Harvard Business Law Review. She spent last summer in Anchorage, Alaska, working for the Attorney General in the Environmental Division. Through the Sports Law Clinic, she has been placed with Jim Juliano of Nicola, Gudbranson & Cooper in Cleveland, Ohio, and currently works for the Concussion Legacy Foundation in Boston.

“Professor Carfagna is truly an asset to Harvard Law School. His clinical placements and teaching methods prove most valuable to his students” Gia said. “While I was not very familiar with the nuances of sports law when I entered law school, I feel incredibly lucky that Professor Weiler pioneered this program, and Professor Carfagna has continued it, so that students like me can gain exposure to the field. I am so honored to have been selected by Professor Carfagna as a recipient of this year’s award.”

Gia is interested in IP Transactions and will work during the summer at Kirkland & Ellis in Chicago in the Technology Transactions department.

Back row, left-right: Glenn Cohen, Florrie Dawrin, Chris Deubert, and Holly Lynch. Front row: Emeritus Professor Paul C. Weiler.

At the beginning of the event, Loren Shokes, J.D. ’17 and last year’s recipient of the Weiler Writing Prize, introduced this year’s Writing Prize winners: Chris Deubert, Senior Law and Ethics Associate for the Law and Ethics Initiative of the Football Players Health Study at Harvard University; Glenn Cohen, Professor at Harvard Law School; Faculty Director of the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics; and Co-Lead of the Law and Ethics Initiative of the Football Players Health Study; and Holly Lynch, Executive Director of the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics; Faculty at the Harvard Medical School Center for Bioethics; and Co-Lead of the Law and Ethics Initiative of the Football Players Health Study.

They were recognized for their groundbreaking article “Protecting and Promoting the Health of NFL Players: Legal and Ethical Analysis and Recommendations” that was published as a Special November edition in the Harvard Law School’s Journal on Sports and Entertainment Law.

The Weiler Awards were established in honor of Emeritus Professor Paul C. Weiler, who retired in 2008 after 26 years of teaching at Harvard Law School.