Author: Holt Hackney

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Plaintiffs Settle lawsuits with San Francisco Unified School District After Alleging Athletic Director Abused Them

Two sexual abuse lawsuits against the San Francisco Unified School District have settled, according to the San Jose law firm that represented the plaintiffs. The SFUSD board of trustees approved the settlement amount of $4.5 million after the SFUSD insurance carriers and the plaintiffs agreed to the settlement amount. The plaintiffs sued SFUSD in 2022…
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State Requires Schools to Establish, Review, and Annually Practice an Athletics Emergency Action Plan for Heart Issues

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed this week the Smart Heart Act, legislation that requires automatic defibrillators in schools and establishes response protocols for cardiac-related medical emergencies. The bill received unanimous, bipartisan legislative support. The Act requires each public and nonpublic school serving grades nine through twelve to maintain an automated external defibrillator (AED) that is…
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Navigating Legal Complexities of NIL Agreements: Jaden Rashada

By Jason S. Kaner The arrival of name, image, and likeness (NIL) agreements has transformed college athletics, offering student-athletes unprecedented opportunities to profit from their personal brands.  Yet, the case of Jaden Rashada, a promising quarterback, is a cautionary tale. When Rashada entered the 2023 college recruitment season, the NCAA had recently adopted rules allowing compensation…
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NFL Renews Its Commitment to Organizations Advancing Social Justice

As part of the NFL’s Inspire Change social justice initiative, the league today announced grant renewals for 10 partners who are working to enact positive change in communities across the country. These grants are awarded to nonprofit organizations creating measurable change across the four pillars of Inspire Change: education, economic advancement, community-policerelations and criminal justice…
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Will Driver Felipe Massa Get His Day in Court? It’s Hard to Tell

(Editor’s Note: What follows is an article from the latest issue of Sports Litigation Alert. To subscribe and receive the Alert every two week and access the vast searchable archive, visit here.) By Kerri Cebula, sports law professor at Kutztown University The 2008 Formula One Singapore Grand Prix is best known for one reason: Crashgate. …
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Zion Williamson v. Prime Sports Marketing: Agents and Advisors PAY ATTENTION

By Christian Dennie at cdennie@denniefirm.com On May 6, 2024, the Fourth Circuit issued its opinion in favor of Zion Williamson (“Williamson”) upholding the District Court’s decision in favor of Williamson.  The Fourth Circuit concluded that Williamson was engaged in an intercollegiate sport while on the Duke University (“Duke”) men’s basketball team, and was thus a “student-athlete,” so…
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LEAD1 Association President and CEO Tom McMillen stepping down at the End of the Summer

LEAD1 Association President and CEO Tom McMillen has announced that, after eight plus years leading the association, which represents the athletics directors of the 133-member schools of the Football Bowl Subdivision (“FBS”), he will be stepping down on September 30, 2024, to pursue other opportunities. McMillen will stay as President and CEO through June 30,…
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Hackney Publications Partners with Cimarron Global Solutions to Create a New Publication Examining Sporting Events and their Impact on Communities

Hackney Publications, the nation’s leading publisher of sports law publications, and Cimarron Global Solutions, renowned for their research in sport and tourism, has announced the launch of a first-of-its-kind publication examining the impact of sporting events on cities, states, regions, and countries. The publication, titled Creating Community Through Sport, will be published six times a…
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Loyola University Chicago Elects Sports Lawyer LaKeisha C. Marsh as New Member of Board of Trustees

At its annual meeting, the Board of Trustees of Loyola University Chicago elected new board members, including sports lawyer LaKeisha C. Marsh (JD ’05) of Akerman LLP. Marsh (JD ’05) serves as the chair of Akerman’s Government Affairs and Public Policy Practice Group. She leads a bipartisan team of professionals providing strategic counsel on policy…
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Analytics and Its Impact on the Sports Industry

Ever wondered why your favorite basketball team loses season after season? Or why other teams perform well? Height plays a huge role in the NBA — the average NBA player is 6 feet 6 inches tall, and the average male in the United States is about 5 feet 10 inches. With each inch that you…
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