Lunch is limited: Please RSVP if you plan to attend to

Transcription

1 University of Pennsylvania Journal of Labor & Employment Law Symposium Professional Sports and Collective Bargaining January 27, 2006 Levy Conference Center 9:30-10am 10-10:30am 10:30am-12pm Registration & Continental Breakfast Opening Remarks Salary Arbitration and Baseball Bargaining Moderator: Scott Rosner, Associate Director of Wharton Sports Business Initiative and Lecturer in Sports Law at Wharton and Penn Law Roger Abrams, Professor, Northeastern Law School, MLB Salary Arbitrator Don Fehr, Executive Director, Major League Baseball Players Association Daniel Halem, Partner, Proskauer Rose 12:15pm-1:45pm 2-3:45pm Lunch Individual Players Rights and the NBA: Regulating the Dress Code and DNA testing Moderator: N. Jeremi Duru, Assistant Professor, Temple Law School Hal Biagas, Deputy Counsel, National Basketball Players Association Michael McCann, Assistant Professor, Mississippi College of Law Alan Milstein, Partner, Sherman, Silverstein, Kohl, Rose & Podolsky 3:45-4:15pm Closing Remarks Scott Rosner, Program Director of Wharton Sports Business Initiative and Lecturer in Sports Law at Wharton and Penn Law 4:15-5pm Reception in the Great Hall Presented by Lunch is limited: Please RSVP if you plan to attend to

2 Speaker Bios Donald M. Fehr is the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, the collective bargaining unit for all active Major League players. Fehr joined the MLBPA as general counsel in 1977, and was named executive director in Under Fehr s guidance, baseball players have gained a number of professional benefits through the collective bargaining process, including increased health and pension benefits and five-fold increases in minimum and average salaries. In addition to serving as the players chief negotiator in collective bargaining with the Major League club owners, Fehr is responsible for the administration of all other aspects of the MLBPA s operations, including contract administration, grievance arbitration, and pension and health care matters. Prior to joining the MLBPA, Fehr was associated with the Kansas City law firm of Jolley, Moran, Walsh, Hager & Gordon, where, on behalf of the MLBPA, he successfully defended the landmark Messersmith-McNally free agency case before a federal appeals court. Fehr receives perennial recognition as one of the most influential people in sports, rising to third overall on The Sporting News 1994 list of the 100 Most Powerful People in Sports, and he was named by the publication as the 24 th most powerful person in sports during the 20 th Century. Fehr has also received similar recognition by a number of other publications, including Baseball America and Sports Business Journal. Fehr received his J.D. with Distinction from the University of Missouri Kansas City School of Law. Daniel R. Halem is a partner in Proskauer Rose LLP's Labor and Employment Law Department, where he represents employers in collective bargaining, arbitration and administrative proceedings, and state and federal litigations. Halem is a member of Proskauer's Sports Law Group, and represents and counsels the NBA, WNBA, NHL, MLB, and the New York Jets in labor and employment matters.

3 Dan successfully represented the Montreal Expos in its salary arbitrations with pitcher Javier Vazquez and shortstop Orlando Cabrera; the Kansas City Royals in its salary arbitrations with shortstop Neifi Perez and centerfielder Carlos Beltran; and the Florida Marlins in its salary arbitrations with pitchers A.J. Burnett and Vladmir Nunez. Some of the other matters that Dan has been involved with include the NBA's labor disputes (and related litigation) with NBA players in and 1998; the Latrell Sprewell matter; arbitrations and proceedings relating to the NBA salary cap; the negotiation of and preparation of the WNBA's first collective bargaining agreement; the NHL's labor dispute with NHL players in 1994; the Alexei Yashin arbitration; MLB's dispute with its umpires; and issues relating to collective bargaining negotiations between MLB and its players' union. Mr. Halem received his J.D. from Harvard where he graduated magna cum laude. Roger I. Abrams is the Richardson Professor of Law at Northeastern University School of Law in Boston and is a recognized authority on Sports Law. He has published three books on the National Pastime, THE FIRST WORLD SERIES AND THE BASEBALL FANATICS OF 1903, THE MONEY PITCH: BASEBALL FREE AGENCY AND SALARY ARBITRATION, and LEGAL BASES: BASEBALL AND THE LAW. He has served as a baseball salary arbitrator starting in 1986, and he is regularly asked to comment on legal and economic issues involving the national game by the print and electronic media. In the fall of 2006, Professor Abrams will serve as Scholar-in-Residence at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York. Professor Abrams served as dean of Northeastern University School of Law from , as dean at Rutgers University Law School from , and as dean at Nova University School of Law from An elected member of the National Academy of Arbitrators since 1982, Professor Abrams serves as a permanent arbitrator for Walt Disney World, the Internal Revenue Service and the Customs Service. He has authored over 35 law review articles on labor arbitration, sports law and other legal issues in law journals at Harvard, Michigan, and Duke, among others. Professor Abrams is a graduate of Harvard Law School and clerked for First Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Frank M. Coffin.

4 N. Jeremi Duru is an Assistant Professor at Temple Law School who teaches in the areas of employment discrimination, civil procedure, and race and the law. Professor Duru was recently awarded the National Bar Association's Entertainment and Sports Lawyer of the Year Award in recognition for his efforts to reduce employment discrimination in the sporting world. Professor Duru served as counsel to the Fritz Pollard Alliance (FPA), an alliance of coaches, scouts, and front office personnel of color in the NFL that works to increase off the field employment opportunity for people of color. Professor Duru has also served as an adviser to a group of former Negro League baseball players seeking from Major League Baseball supplemental income for the discrimination they suffered during their playing days and has also counseled personnel of individual professional sports franchises on employment discrimination matters. Professor Duru's current research focuses on employment discrimination and issues of race in the law, with a particular emphasis on the intersection of race, law, and sport. Professor Duru received his J.D. from Harvard University and his Master s Degree in Public Policy from the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government. Professor Duru served as a law clerk to the Honorable Damon J. Keith of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Michael McCann is an Assistant Professor at the Mississippi College School of Law where he teaches Sports Law. Prior to teaching, McCann worked in private practice and served as counsel to Maurice Clarrett s legal team in his lawsuit against the NFL and its age limit. He has written numerous articles in the area of sports law and has spoken on various radio shows, including a recent commentary on the NBA dress code on the

5 BBC s World Have Your Say. McCann has also been quoted in a variety of articles addressing sports law issues, and was recently quoted by the Philadelphia Inquirer in an article regarding the Eagles disciplinary action against Terrell Owens. McCann also runs a popular Sports Law Blog available at McCann has his LL.M. from Harvard and his J.D. from the University of Virginia where he served as Editor in Chief of their Sports and Entertainment Law Journal. Alan C. Milstein is a nationally recognized litigator in the areas of sports law, insurance law, products liability, bioethics and clinical trials litigation. In recent cases, Mr. Milstein has represented Maurice Clarett in seeking early entry into the NFL and jockeys in an action against their guild. Mr. Milstein has lectured extensively on fire litigation, on bioethics in clinical trials, and on sports law and has been invited to make presentations on sports law at a number of universities. Mr. Milstein has been profiled in the New York Times, Washington Post, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Courier-Post, Newark Star Ledger, New Jersey Super Lawyers and the German magazine Geo Wissen. Mr. Milstein received his J.D. with honors from Temple University School of Law and his Masters Degree from the University of Kansas.

6 Hal Biagas is Deputy Counsel to the National Basketball Players Association. He joined the organization in 1993 after working on the congressional campaign of William Hunter, a former pro football player who became the executive director of the NBPA in Biagas received his J.D. from UCLA. Scott Rosner is the Associate Director of the Wharton Sports Business Initiative and a Lecturer in Legal Studies and Business Ethics at Wharton. Rosner teaches sports business courses at Wharton and Advanced Sports Law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Rosner is also the Principal of Hudson Sports Consulting, a sports advisory firm. Rosner is the lead author of THE BUSINESS OF SPORTS and has published articles in numerous journals on a wide range of sports law topics, including the financial aspect of Title IX and college athletics, the application of antitrust and labor law to the sport industry, and racial and ethnic issues in sport. Rosner received his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, an M.S. in Sport Management from the University of Massachusetts, and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Michigan..