Sports Law Scoreboard : Sports Lawyer & Attorney : Fox Rothschild Law Firm : Intellectual Property, Copyright Infringement & Privacy for Athletes

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By Jeffrey S. Kravitz, Esquire

Let's start with the obvious...the Harbaugh Bros. (Jim and John of the 49ers and Ravens respectively) are going to say that it makes no difference to them that their brother is their opponent. Over and over again….Right.

Now let's get up close and personal. When I got into law school, my parents were pleased. When my brother got into med school you would have thought that the Red Sea had parted again.

Turnabout is fair play. I am the older. Having the Kravitz name in Long Beach California was a rarity. Thus, when my brother would start class throughout childhood, the teacher would say, "Are you Jeff's brother?" He was both pleased…and not. Capper was when he went to England for his junior year abroad. His visiting professor had him over to dinner in London as she was on sabbatical, as was her husband, a professor at UCLA. Five minutes into dinner, he looked at my brother and questioned, "Are you related to Jeff Kravitz?" My brother called from London at two in the morning my time and without introducing himself proclaimed," You son of a ..... I am thousands of miles away and cannot get from under your shadow!" Let the sibling wars begin. 

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By Jeffrey S. Kravitz, Esquire

Jovan Belcher had his whole life ahead of him and now he and his girlfriend are gone. According to the Daily News, he kissed the corpse after he shot her, before killing himself. Law allows us to grow as we grow old. Athletics often rob us of that luxury. As immortalized in poetry:

The time you won your town the race
We chaired you through the market-place;
Man and boy stood cheering by,
And home we brought you shoulder-high.

To-day, the road all runners come,
Shoulder-high we bring you home,
And set you at your threshold down,
Townsman of a stiller town.

Smart lad, to slip betimes away
From fields were glory does not stay
And early though the laurel grows
It withers quicker than the rose.

Eyes the shady night has shut
Cannot see the record cut,
And silence sounds no worse than cheers
After earth has stopped the ears:

Now you will not swell the rout
Of lads that wore their honours out,
Runners whom renown outran
And the name died before the man.

So set, before its echoes fade,
The fleet foot on the sill of shade,
And hold to the low lintel up
The still-defended challenge-cup.

And round that early-laurelled head
Will flock to gaze the strengthless dead,
And find unwithered on its curls
The garland briefer than a girl's.

From: To An Athlete Dying Young by A.E. Housman

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By Aaron D. Weems, Esq.

Editor of Pennsylvania Family Law Blog

The stereotype of a family law attorney is that they deal in divorces or are limited to issues between spouses. The reality is that the practice can be far reaching in scope and encompass estate planning issues, business interests, and matters that extend beyond ex-spouses, but that deal with many aspects of a client’s life.  A recent example of how the term “family law” can truly encompass the entire family made news recently in the form of the legal action NFL rookie offensive lineman Tyron Smith had to take against members of his family. Mr. Smith found himself at odds with family members who allegedly had become so aggressive in their demands for money that he had to call the police to intervene. Mr. Smith’s representatives report that about $1 million is missing from him.

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By Jeffrey S. Kravitz and Sekou Campbell

According to the Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press, the NFL has reached a tentative agreement to end its lockout of the referees. 

Ed Hochuli, whom Jeff Kravitz has worked with (as a lawyer not a ref), reads “Rules. Lots of Rules.” This year, during the lockout, Hochuli even held a boot camp during the NFLRA’s negotiations with the NFL. So, the professional officials will likely be ready when they return tonight to don the zebra stripes in the Ravens v. Browns game. The NFL no doubt values its referees, but this labor dispute begs a larger question: How does a sports league, worth billions of dollars, valuate referees in the marketplace?

Referee valuation poses a set of issues distinct even from player strikes or lockouts because referees gain value when they lose prominence. When a referee or umpire calls a “perfect” game, they rarely do or should get mentioned.  Their “invisibility,” however, challenges their sports league employers to come up with a workable economic model for their market. Perhaps sports leagues now have the information they need to appropriately evaluate the market strength of invisibility.

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By Jeffrey S. Kravitz, Esq.

The NFL is clearly struggling with substitute referees. Over the weekend, one such was removed from a New Orleans Saints game because he was a Saints fan. CBS Morning News today featured the controversy and the outcry re the integrity of the game.Same with judges. It is axiomatic that good judges make better decisions overall than bad ones. In California, the state judiciary is struggling with severe budget cutbacks. All suffer. I sat through four hours of court time as a judge was forced to do a double law and motion schedule due to furlough days. He performed heroically, but the State has to come up with more money for the courts to ensure the integrity of the process.

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Tim Tebow was a huge college quarterback, projected for failure in the NFL. Instead, he is winning. He is hallelujah, not hip hop, square, not cool, thankful, not thankless. Lesson here: be yourself. One of the biggest (actually quite short) trial lawyers in LA during my pup days was a short guy, with a Radar O'Reilly look (from Mash), who had a courtly Southern  presentation, rather than cut and slash. Motto once again: be yourself, but be your best self.

photo credit: Caveit Calcei

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As detailed by Chad Pergram in his FoxNews.com article dated March 4, 2011, Debate on Spending: “The Conversation Will Continue,” there are ongoing talks in Congress re budget cuts, but nobody is talking.  The Speaker deferred to the Vice President and Mr. Biden was (gasp) noticeably mum and brief.  

Ditto the NFL, which has a news blackout effectively and, like Congress, is extending existing agreements (or in the case of Congress, the debt threshold).  Famously, Winston Churchill said that one should not watch either government or sausage being made, and Obamacare suffered from too much attention (in my view).  Kudos to both Congress and the NFL for keeping their mouths shut.  Not everything needs to be breathlessly watched on CNN, Mr. Sheen.

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As featured in BusinessWeek.com on December 30, 2010, the question looming over the NFL playoffs is the possibility of a strike next season. The players' union has estimated the cost of such a strike at $160 million and has written the nation's governors and mayors regarding this potential loss.

What goes unstated is whether either side has strike insurance to "share the wealth" with carriers, foreign or domestic. This writer worked on the baseball strike of '88, which was insured in part. The insurers in turned reinsured the risk through other carriers. Reinsurance is basically a side bet by the insurer with another company so that the entire risk does not fall on one carrier or underwriting group. Insurance law and reinsurance law is basically the law of contracts with a heavy dose of public policy thrown in.

So when the figure of $160 million is used, the question becomes, who will bear the ultimate risk?

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This is the title of an old labor song made famous by Woodie Guthrie. This came up as a topic over turkey day in Texas because NFL contracts are not guaranteed (except for bonuses) while those in other sports are largely guaranteed. The assembled, a fairly conservative group, wanted to keep it that way, concerned that their ticket prices not go up. Concern for injured workers was sorely lacking. With all of the recent publicity on concussions, look for the NFL to work toward some sort of compensation to injured players, thus improving their self-image and providing a more just system.

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In "NFLPA Files Complaint Against NFL Over Television Deals", SI.com deals with the issue of the NFL players vs owners in the event of a lockout or strike.  Seems the owners have more protection than the players and players are crying foul.  A longtime agreement requires the owners to try to maximize revenue to the players and the players feel that the covenant of good faith and fair dealing has been broken.  Every contract has an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing in California, which is basically the Golden Rule.  Much commentary from the players on this one and none from the owners.  Will be interesting to see their reply and we will be following.

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On ESPN's "The Herd" on April 21, 2010, the host talked about the NFL doing the hard parenting on Ben R.  One would hope that the NFL would not have to parent adults getting millions, but that is not the world we live in.  A simple suggestion by analogy: California sexual harassment law.

In California, employers who employ a certain number of employees have to give their employees and supervisors training each year in sexual harassment.  The California Fair Employment and Housing Act ("FEHA") requires that employers with 50 or more employees provide all supervisory employees (including executives, managers and lead employees), with sexual harassment training once every two years.  Where the employer fails to provide the training, a plaintiff who sues for sexual harassment can claim that the employer failed to take reasonable steps to prevent and correct sexual harassment in the workplace, which can lend support to a request for a punitive damages award.

Regardless of whether California teams are presently including their players in this exercise, the NFL or the teams should provide their players with similar instructions. This type of training could help avoid improper behavior by players. 

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As most of you know, the Saints fans yell, scream, text and twitter the line... "Who Dat" and have for years. As illuminated on the pout, the National Football League is trying to end the sale of shirts and ancillaries featuring the expression, claiming ownership of it. The online report fails to mention whether the league has registered the mark and if so, the status of the mark before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Marks can be either registered or non-registered, but ownership in each case rests with first use in commerce. Everyone from the Louisiana senator to the local shopkeepers is claiming the cry as one of common origin, not in the public domain and not subject to ownership by the League. We have seen reports that the expression comes from an early jazz song, presumably not owned by the NFL.

Has the NFL raised an alarm only to have the owner of the song come forward and threaten the league?

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