Harvard Law Bulletin: What sports law classes do you teach?
Peter Carfagna: In 2006 I was appointed by then- Dean Elena Kagan [’86] as the Covington Burling Distinguished Visitor and began helping teach classes with Paul Weiler [LL.M. ’65] — really considered the father of sports law. Since then, I have taught three classes: Examining the Legal History and Evolution of America’s Three “Major League” Sports: MLB, NFL and NBA; Representing the Professional Athlete; and Advanced Contract Drafting. Of those three, I think the contract drafting is the most broadly applicable for any future lawyer. Alumni come back to me over and over again just to tell me that, though they didn’t go into sports law, thanks to that class, they really know how to draft a contract.
Harvard Law Bulletin: How do those classes relate to Harvard Law School’s Sports Law Clinic, where you are the faculty supervisor?
Carfagna: The courses are really a springboard for law school students who are looking for a clinical placement with a professional sports team or organization. The students have to be in their second or third year and enrolled in at least one of those three classes. They are really a training ground.
Harvard Law Bulletin: Where are students placed today?
Carfagna: We had 68 placements last year through our clinic, which gives you a sense of how it has expanded. Many of our former students are now general managers, commissioners, assistant general managers, or assistant general counsel with MLB, the WNBA, the NBA, or the NFL, or run a sports law firm, and they are all eager to help, often by supervising students during J-term or even in the spring or fall semester. Many of those same graduates have received the “Distinguished Alum” award presented at our annual Sports Law Symposium that recognizes their success in the field and their continuing commitment to the Sports Law Clinic. They include Brandon Etheridge ’11, senior vice president and general counsel of the Baltimore Ravens; Jihad Beauchman ’09, executive vice president and general counsel at the San Francisco 49ers; Kim Miner ’15, chief legal and external affairs officer for Boston Legacy Football Club; and Megha Parekh ’09, executive vice president and chief legal officer of the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The feeling is, “You were good to me; now I want to be good to you by sponsoring a placement or supporting the clinic in whatever way I can.” It really has grown organically. We also have some placements with international organizations. Last year, we sent four students to a college of soccer law at Wembley Stadium in London, and we had students working with sports law firms in Dubai and Beijing run by alumni.
Many [former students] also come back each year to address my classes or guest-lecture. We also have the Journal of Sports and Entertainment Law, a place where students can publish academic works related to the field, and the Committee on Sports and Entertainment Law that sponsors the annual symposium featuring many alumni working in the professional sports world and includes panel discussions and networking events.