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The July 2012 #LawJobChat fell on the Thursday before the Opening Ceremonies for the London 2012 Olympics, so the chat focused on careers in sports law, including the niche area of Olympics law. As @DavidCohenEsq tweeted during the chat, "the Olympic movement has a lot of entities and thus a lot of lawyers." If you are like many of the lawyers who participated in the chat, you might be surprised to learn of the number of lawyers involved with the Olympics.
I've outlined five entities with ties to the Olympics and their own staff of lawyers. If you are curious about a career path at one of the entities, click on the lawyers profiled to learn more about their legal education and career path leading up to their current practices. Connect with them on LinkedIn or Twitter and begin to network with the key players.
1. International Olympic Committee (IOC)
Founded in 1894 and headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, the IOC is the supreme authority of the Olympic Movement. The IOC's Legal Affairs Department is headed by former Olympic wrestler Howard Stupp and consists of eight additional lawyers in Lausanne. However, from 2002 through May 2010, the IOC had a legal presence in the US. Its Television and Marketing Services group was based in Atlanta, and two lawyers worked in the Atlanta office.
2. U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC)
Headquartered in Colorado Springs, CO, the USOC is responsible for training, entering and funding US teams for the Olympic Games. It also oversees the process by which US cities bid to host the Olympic Games. The USOC has at least three in-house lawyers on staff, and two other members of the senior leadership are also lawyers.
- Rana Dershowitz - Rana is the General Counsel of the USOC. She obtained her law degree from Harvard.
- Kelly Maser - Kelly is the Associate General Counsel of Intellectual Property of the USOC. She earned her law degree from Georgetown Law School.
- Gary Johansen - Gary is the Associate General Counsel of the USOC and earned his law degree from the University of Iowa School of law.
- Scott Blackmun - Scott is the CEO of the USOC and holds a law degree from Stanford Law School.
- Rick Adams - Rick is the Managing Director of the National Governing Body Organization Development of the USOC and holds a law degree from Rutgers University.
3. United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA)
Also headquartered in Colorado Springs, CO, the USADA is a non-profit responsible for administering the anti-doping program on the USOC's behalf. The USADA has two lawyers on staff: William Bock, General Counsel, and Onye Ikwuakor, Legal Affairs Director.
4. London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG)
The LOCOG was formed in 2005 after London won the bid for the 2012 Olympics. LOCOG was responsible for overseeing the planning and development of the 2012 Olympic Games, including the drafting of over 7,000 contracts. The LOCOG's legal team is led by Terry Miller, and the LOCOG chose Freshfields as the official legal services provider for the London 2012 Olympic Games. More than 30 Freshfields lawyers have been on secondment to the LOCOG's legal team, including the five secondees profiled here. As the 2012 Olympic Games come to a close, the LOCOG will wind down as well. The lawyers will continue to be involved in winding down the entity and selling or leasing some of the facilities used for the event.
5. CAS Arbitrators
The Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), the highest court in sports, appointed 12 arbitrators from 12 countries to be present at the London 2012 Olympics and rule quickly on any legal disputes that arise. The 12 CAS arbitrators are all lawyers or professors specializing in sports law and arbitration.
Maidie Oliveau, Counsel at Arent Fox, is the CAS arbitrator from the US. Click here to view the other CAS arbitrators at the London Olympics, and click here to read Corporate Counsel's recent interview with Maidie.
Bonus! Olympic Athletes
While most of the lawyers working for the entities above, either as in-house counsel or outside counsel, began their careers in large law firms, the roster of lawyers representing athletes in Olympic-related disputes is more varied. Review this sample list of lawyers representing Olympic athletes and then review their LinkedIn profiles to learn more about their career paths.
If you loved watching the 2012 Olympic Games over the past two weeks, perhaps you would also enjoy a career tied to the Olympics. The information outlined above provides an overview of the various roles and lawyers in those roles. Now, it's up to you to take the next step --- read more about the roles that interest you, connect with the lawyers on LinkedIn, and outline a career development plan regarding who you need to meet or what action you need to take each month until you land your dream position.
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