Top Law Schools

I've read a few previous posts from people asking about how to get into sports law. I know sports law is largely about connections and I know the consensus (at least on TLS) is that a high ranked school in a big market/where you want to work is the best way to make those connections.

But I'm still intrigued by Marquette's sports law program, even though it doesn't fit any of those criteria. From what I've read I feel like MU's JD/MBA in sports business would set me up better than a lot of higher ranked schools (top 25) I could get into. Am I wrong? Anywhere else I should consider ahead of them?

I know the VP/general counsel from the Braves (one of a few dream jobs for me) graduated from MU and I noticed a few other alums with great jobs like that. But I can't tell if they're the exception from Marquette or the rule.

Advice from anyone who's in/been through MU's program or working in sports law would be greatly appreciated.

I'm a little perplexed by this post.

From what I've read I feel like MU's JD/MBA in sports business would set me up better than a lot of higher ranked schools. Am I wrong?

note

ut_89 wrote: I know the consensus (at least on TLS) is that a high ranked school in a big market/where you want to work is the best way to make those connections.

There you go.

And yes, the 6 people from marquette that have great jobs in the last 30 years are definitely the rule, and not the exception.

Patriot1208 wrote:I'm a little perplexed by this post.

From what I've read I feel like MU's JD/MBA in sports business would set me up better than a lot of higher ranked schools. Am I wrong?

note

ut_89 wrote: I know the consensus (at least on TLS) is that a high ranked school in a big market/where you want to work is the best way to make those connections.

There you go.

And yes, the 6 people from marquette that have great jobs in the last 30 years are definitely the rule, and not the exception.

I think you mean the exception and not the rule. And I wouldn't go to Marquette. I do think a MBA could help you though.

I think that the poster above you was using sarcasm to illustrate a point.

CanadianWolf wrote:I think that the poster above you was using sarcasm to illustrate a point.

Ah yes. Comprehension fail on my part.

I think you mean the exception and not the rule. And I wouldn't go to Marquette. I do think a MBA could help you though.

If not Marquette, where would you recommend that has a sports focus during the JD or MBA? Or is a sports focus even important?

I've read comments by all the people who say top school/big market is the only way to get into sports law but those comments all sound elitist to me and have all come from people who don't work in sports law.

Anyone in a sports setting (esp. general counsel for a pro team) care to help me out?

ut_89 wrote:

I think you mean the exception and not the rule. And I wouldn't go to Marquette. I do think a MBA could help you though.

If not Marquette, where would you recommend that has a sports focus during the JD or MBA? Or is a sports focus even important?

I've read comments by all the people who say top school/big market is the only way to get into sports law but those comments all sound elitist to me and have all come from people who don't work in sports law.

Anyone in a sports setting (esp. general counsel for a pro team) care to help me out?

Yes, there are a lot of general counsel attorney who work for NFL teams browsing this site. I'm sure they will give you good advice.

On a somewhat serious note. Look at the profiles for the people working for these organizations. Almost every single one came from biglaw working in some sort of contractional law. A focus in sports will not mean anything because it is just a different client while still doing contracts. This means you have to get biglaw first, which means you need to maximize your chances of getting biglaw. What you will notice is there are a somewhat decent amount of these people who graduated from mid level tier one law schools. The problem is with using their success as your barometer is that back when these people graduated in the 1980's you could go to notre dame or fordham and have a 75% chance of getting biglaw. Now of days, you have a relatively pretty small shot.

I agree with patriot. You need to research career paths for these types of attorneys. But I get the feeling that you're going to have to start in biglaw and make a lateral move into a sports organization. I would assume that most sports organizations use all in-house but maybe there are some who contract certain areas out to firms.

The moral of this story is to go the best school you get into and network your ass off. I would say the sports focus doesn't matter. If you learn the law you can apply it to sports , big companies or anything else.

I will preface my post with the fact that I am a 0L and am by no means in expert in this area, but my 2nd major behind economics was sport management as I too had a dream whenever I was 18 years old and selecting my major(s) of choice. With that said, I can safely say that a Marquette J.D. is not the ticket to a sports law dream job - not even close. I have done a fair amount of research in this topic, both personal and required for some of my coursework, and outside of a few miracle cases, people are not landing these jobs straight out of law school. Most sports organizations have a few attorneys that serve as in-house counsel that handle the day-to-day legal work, but they also keep a third party law firm that does consistent work for them that may handle some of the bigger legal issues, but obviously on a more limited basis. I would say your best bet would be locating these third party firms that are handling sports legal work. This gives you the opportunity to make the proper connections to the industry and the best chance at making a future lateral move to a sports organization. Another option would be landing a job at a big firm that does a lot of work in the sports realm (ie Proskauer Rose). This too would give you the best opportunity at meeting the right people and making the necessary connections. However, landing a job a Proskauer, and firms like it, would prove just as difficult as landing a coveted sports gig. Then you consider the fact that you not only have to acquire a job at Proskauer, but you have to acquire a job working in the Sports Law group - we're talking about the same miracle chance as you going to Marquette LS and becoming the VP/General Counsel for the Atlanta Braves. I tend to agree with the other sentiments shared - go to the best law school you can get into, do well enough in school to put yourself into position to land biglaw (maybe even try to zero in on firms that will expose you to sports work - not for the work, because transactional law is transactional law and the same goes for other legal work that you would be doing for a sports organization - but for the people that you will come in contact with), and network.

I go to Marquette and most of the people don't know what the hell they're talking about.

If you want to be general counsel for the Yankees going to Yale isn't going to ensure you get a job. There are so few positions its luck and who you know.

Now, if you want to be a compliance officer for an athletic department I would absolutely tell you to go to Marquette over most schools. The sports law program and culture here is very very real and it is not just a few people getting jobs.

It depends on what you want to do with sports. If you want to be a mega agent there is a .0001 percent chance that will happen even if you go to Yale and know more about sports law than anyone.

Just my 2 cents, and the new building is gorgeous, it's a work of art.

Generic20101L wrote:I go to Marquette and most of the people don't know what the hell they're talking about.

If you want to be general counsel for the Yankees going to Yale isn't going to ensure you get a job. There are so few positions its luck and who you know.

Now, if you want to be a compliance officer for an athletic department I would absolutely tell you to go to Marquette over most schools. The sports law program and culture here is very very real and it is not just a few people getting jobs.

It depends on what you want to do with sports. If you want to be a mega agent there is a .0001 percent chance that will happen even if you go to Yale and know more about sports law than anyone.

Just my 2 cents, and the new building is gorgeous, it's a work of art.

I'm glad we were able to hear from a person actually at Marquette as you certainly have a better insight than most in terms of the sports law job outlook for Marquette grads. I think you make a good point that "If you want to be general counsel for the Yankees going to Yale isn't going to ensure you get a job. There are so few positions its luck and who you know." And with that being said, wouldn't it be best to attend the best law school you're admitted to in order to ensure the best employment options post-graduation considering the low probability of obtaining highly coveted sports law positions?

Cactus wrote:

Generic20101L wrote:I go to Marquette and most of the people don't know what the hell they're talking about.

If you want to be general counsel for the Yankees going to Yale isn't going to ensure you get a job. There are so few positions its luck and who you know.

Now, if you want to be a compliance officer for an athletic department I would absolutely tell you to go to Marquette over most schools. The sports law program and culture here is very very real and it is not just a few people getting jobs.

It depends on what you want to do with sports. If you want to be a mega agent there is a .0001 percent chance that will happen even if you go to Yale and know more about sports law than anyone.

Just my 2 cents, and the new building is gorgeous, it's a work of art.

I'm glad we were able to hear from a person actually at Marquette as you certainly have a better insight than most in terms of the sports law job outlook for Marquette grads. I think you make a good point that "If you want to be general counsel for the Yankees going to Yale isn't going to ensure you get a job. There are so few positions its luck and who you know." And with that being said, wouldn't it be best to attend the best law school you're admitted to in order to ensure the best employment options post-graduation considering the low probability of obtaining highly coveted sports law positions?

...So you're saying that we *SHOULD* go to Yale after all? So confused with all this crap!

ARG! I'm filling out a Cooley app just to reject the acceptance letter in sheer spite of my confusion!! BRB!

Cactus wrote:

Generic20101L wrote:I go to Marquette and most of the people don't know what the hell they're talking about.

If you want to be general counsel for the Yankees going to Yale isn't going to ensure you get a job. There are so few positions its luck and who you know.

Now, if you want to be a compliance officer for an athletic department I would absolutely tell you to go to Marquette over most schools. The sports law program and culture here is very very real and it is not just a few people getting jobs.

It depends on what you want to do with sports. If you want to be a mega agent there is a .0001 percent chance that will happen even if you go to Yale and know more about sports law than anyone.

Just my 2 cents, and the new building is gorgeous, it's a work of art.

I'm glad we were able to hear from a person actually at Marquette as you certainly have a better insight than most in terms of the sports law job outlook for Marquette grads. I think you make a good point that "If you want to be general counsel for the Yankees going to Yale isn't going to ensure you get a job. There are so few positions its luck and who you know." And with that being said, wouldn't it be best to attend the best law school you're admitted to in order to ensure the best employment options post-graduation considering the low probability of obtaining highly coveted sports law positions?

No. There are tons of jobs here for people who want to work in college athletics and I do know that people do get pro jobs, they are just reserved for those in the know/top of the class. I think if you want to be a college compliance officer and work your way up the athletic department then going to Marquette over MOST schools is prob a good decision (scholarship money would change things obviously).

Just go wherever you feel comfortable and wherever you want to go. Want to live in Milwaukee for four years? Go to Marquette. The University of Oregon also has a solid program where you can get an MBA in Sports Business.

Working in sports is all about who you know. If you want to be a lawyer for a league or team, you may need to start in sales and work your way up. If you want to work in sports, network. That is what it takes. Doesn't matter where you went to school. Marquette and Oregon both have impressive networks in the sports world that you tap in to by going to school there. The same goes for Arizona State, Arizona, and a handful of other schools.

cteam wrote:Just go wherever you feel comfortable and wherever you want to go. Want to live in Milwaukee for four years? Go to Marquette. The University of Oregon also has a solid program where you can get an MBA in Sports Business.

Working in sports is all about who you know. If you want to be a lawyer for a league or team, you may need to start in sales and work your way up. If you want to work in sports, network. That is what it takes. Doesn't matter where you went to school. Marquette and Oregon both have impressive networks in the sports world that you tap in to by going to school there. The same goes for Arizona State, Arizona, and a handful of other schools.

joined today and your first post is a useless bump of a very old thread? Suspicious

Patriot1208 wrote:

cteam wrote:Just go wherever you feel comfortable and wherever you want to go. Want to live in Milwaukee for four years? Go to Marquette. The University of Oregon also has a solid program where you can get an MBA in Sports Business.

Working in sports is all about who you know. If you want to be a lawyer for a league or team, you may need to start in sales and work your way up. If you want to work in sports, network. That is what it takes. Doesn't matter where you went to school. Marquette and Oregon both have impressive networks in the sports world that you tap in to by going to school there. The same goes for Arizona State, Arizona, and a handful of other schools.

joined today and your first post is a useless bump of a very old thread? Suspicious