Christian Dennie, a sports lawyer, commercial litigator, and partner at Barlow, Garsek, & Simon in Fort Worth, joins us on today's show. Christian talks about understanding the case, demonstrating grit, and how the new name, image, and likeness legislation is playing out thus far.

His firm/practice

Firm is headquartered in Fort Worth with a Southlake office
Commercial firm (no criminal)
He focuses on sports clients but does a number of things under that umbrella including arbitration
Fort Worth / Tarrant County legal practice
Small town with over 1M people
Plenty of large businesses
Lots of lifers
More local/Texas based firms
Collegial and supportive of one another
New name, image, and likeness NCAA rules and state laws, as well as potential changes to the NCAA constitution are significant issues

Advice to lawyers in practice

Have someone that will take you under their wing and serve as a mentor to you and help you learn/grow
You win lawsuits in the library and not the courtroom
Sometimes the law is not on your side but you need to be creative because things need to change
Can happen in the courtroom with a decision, OR
In a settlement or outside of the courtroom...can be just as good as a decision
Take the case and figure it out
It's not about sitting in your office 18 hours a day to show that you are committed; but it's not about the hours
You are a problem solver
Ideal is to be at a law firm that has enough work that you aren't having to "create time" to meet your billable hour requirements
Daniel recalls former guest Jim Chester's advice to never leave a partner's office without the DDB (deadline / deliverable / budget).
Important for the client to understand what they are asking as well
Formulate a game plan early for how you are going to generate the clients you want
Put yourself around the clients you want, but with the expertise you have even if that is different than what you ultimately want to do
Understand the culture/business/environment of the clients you want to serve

Advice to Lawyers On The Lateral Market

Demonstrate the work you have done
How does your work history match what the firm needs
Is there a cultural fit?
If you played sports in college or beyond that stands out to him because of the grit factor
Trial experience, judicial clerkships, real estate deals/closings, employment contract experience all looks good
If you don't have those things, do you have the interest, curiosity, and willingness to transition

Sports Law

Not a lot of large national deals yet
2nd Circuit Court of Appeals / Gatto case
Lots of local/regional deals
Just making sure they comply with state law, because if they don't then they won't comply with NCAA rules
Contract can't extend beyond eligibility and there are multiple places in agreements where perpetual licenses are inserted
Bonuses based on results are not permissible and some of the early contracts had those in there
Schools are starting to get a better grasp of it
Texas' law specifically says you can't use logos/marks which can cause issues
Some schools are trying to figure out how to permit the use
Houston Travis Scott concert
Was there adequate security?
What does the license on the ticket say and do we have an enforceable arbitration clause?
What if you are forced to click a link to go out and read the fine print of the license?
Insurance?
The NCAA recommendations on constitution/bylaw changes is a major issue in college athletics; especially if we see more power pushed down to the conference level

Rapid Fire Questions

Name one trait/characteristic you most want to see in an associate: Ability to roll up the sleeves and get after it; willing to do what it takes; send the fax!
What habit has been key to your success: understanding the client; establishing trust
Favorite app/productivity tool: Twitter
What would be listed first on the interest line of your resume: sports and family; stand-up paddle boarding
Favorite legal movie: A Time to Kill / My Cousin Vinny
First date of OU/TX in the SEC: 2023

Thanks again to Christian Dennie for joining us on today's show!