The Path To General Counsel Of A Professional Sports Team

The legal profession is a mixed bag. While many lawyers earn relatively high salaries, the job also comes with heavy workloads and considerable stress. The challenges of the job can be mitigated if one is fortunate enough to do legal work in an industry that interests them. Not surprisingly then, legal counsel for a professional sports team is a highly coveted role. But who gets those jobs?

The Research

In 2017, co-authors and I published an academic article analyzing the responsibilities, demographics and qualifications of the individuals holding the highest ranking in-house legal position (typically referred to as the General Counsel) at each of the teams in the NFL, MLB, NBA, and NHL, commonly referred to as the “Big Four.” That article was part of similar work analyzing General Managers in the NFL, MLB, and NBA, as well as Division I Athletic Directors.

We recently updated our analysis of General Counsels, including by expanding the analysis to include MLS (Disclosure: From 2018-2021, I was General Counsel of D.C. United of MLS). We also explored the role of in-house counsel at WNBA and NWSL clubs. However, WNBA clubs generally either do not have in-house counsel or share counsel with an NBA club. Similarly, of the 12 NWSL teams that played in 2023, seven had no counsel and three shared counsel with an MLS affiliated club. Only the Washington Spirit and Kansas City Current had their own counsel.

Our analysis looked at the General Counsels’ age, race/ethnicity, gender, law school, and various aspects of their prior experience.

Age

The most common age decile for General Counsels in the Big Four is 40-49, representing 34.5% of General Counsels in 2017 and 38.4% of General Counsels in 2023. Otherwise, General Counsels are just as likely to be over 60 (12.4% in 2023) as under 40 (12.5%).

In contrast, no MLS club has a General Counsel over 60 and 30% of them are under 40. The variance between the Big Four and MLS is indicative of the differences in pay and prestige between MLS and the other leagues.

Race/Ethnicity

The number of non-white General Counsels in the Big Four increased from 16 in 2017 (14.2% of the total) to 26 in 2023 (22.5%). Notably, the NHL went from having zero Black General Counsels to five. At the same time, the number of white General Counsels has remained relatively steady at 97 in 2017 and 93 in 2023.

MLS clubs have been more diverse in their hiring. Nine of the league’s 28 General Counsels are racial or ethnic minorities, including two Asian-American, four Black, and three Hispanic/Latino General Counsels.

For comparison purposes, in 2023, the American Bar Association found that 79% of attorneys were white, 6% were Asian-American, 6% were Hispanic, 5% were Black, and 3% were multiracial.

Gender

The leagues’ diversity efforts are noticeable on the gender front as well. The number of female General Counsels in the Big Four increased from 21 in 2017 (18.5%) to 39 (32.5%). The leagues have roughly the same number of female General Counsels: NFL – 9; MLB – 10; NBA – 9; and NHL – 11.

Yet, MLS once again has even better representation. Twelve of its 28 General Counsels (43%) are women.

Law School

While the value of law school rankings has been questioned in recent years, they still seem to carry weight in the legal industry. Indeed, the industry is notorious for its preference for graduates of highly-ranked law schools and the sports industry is no different. In 2017, 64.7% of General Counsels in the Big Four came from a top 50 ranked law school. In 2023, it was 59.7%. Moreover, in both years, approximately 28% of General Counsels came from top 10 law schools. Only about 15% of General Counsels graduated from law schools ranked lower than the top 100.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Harvard Law School consistently leads the ranks, having had eight alumni as General Counsel in the Big Four in 2017 and nine in 2023. This result can largely be attributed to Professor Peter Carfagna, who organizes the sports law curriculum at Harvard for the specific purpose of preparing students to be in-house counsel at professional sports teams.

MLS General Counsels are slightly less academically elite. Only 49% of their General Counsel come from top 50 schools, though 27% are still from the top 10.

Law Firm Experience

Experience at a law firm is generally a prerequisite to becoming a General Counsel for a professional sports team. In 2017, 88.5% of Big Four General Counsels had spent time in private practice and in 2023, it was 83.5%.

The size of those law firms may matter also. In 2017, 42.7% of Big Four General Counsels had spent time at a law firm with at least 500 attorneys, which includes the most prestigious and powerful firms. In 2023, that number increased to 47.6%. In both years, only 14.5% of General Counsels had spent time at law firms with less than 26 lawyers.

There are several law firms that regularly do work with sports leagues and teams and thus are excellent training grounds for future General Counsels. In 2023, 19 Big Four General Counsels spent time at Proskauer Rose LLP (6), Covington & Burling LLP (4), Latham & Watkins LLP (4), Foley & Lardner LLP (1), Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP (1), or Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP (1).

General Counsels for MLS clubs tend to have similar experience levels at large and small law firms as their Big Four counterparts. Additionally, three MLS General Counsels worked at the aforementioned firms with robust sports law practices.

Industry Experience

As one would expect, experience as lower ranked counsel at either a sports team or league is helpful in becoming a General Counsel. In 2023, 32 Big Four General Counsels (26.7%) had spent time as counsel for a team before ascending to their current role. Seven had also spent time as a lawyer at a league, including some who later spent time with teams before becoming General Counsel of one.

MLS clubs similarly pull from the ranks of other teams and leagues. Nine of its General Counsels spent time as counsel previously, including seven from a Big Four team. Moreover, six General Counsels in MLS spent time at a league office, with three of them having worked at the NFL. Indeed, the NFL’s Management Council is one of the most powerful legal organizations in sports.

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The surest way to become General Counsel of a professional sports team is to graduate from Harvard Law School and then work at one of the few prestigious law firms that regularly does sports law work. Far easier said than done. The data nonetheless reveals that the position is available for those from less well trod paths, they may just have to work a little bit harder.