Moderator: Professor Robert Boland
WHEN
Friday October 30, 2026
TIME
10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
LOCATION
DeCotiis Moot Court Room (First Floor)
Seton Hall University Law School
1 Newark Center, 1109 Raymond Boulevard
Newark, NJ 07102
Each of the four panels focuses on the legal, ethical, and business issues that are
shaping the future of and driving change in both Sports & the Law
WHY ATTEND
For attorneys, law students, sports business students, concerned business leaders,
athletes and families of athletes seeking an exceptionally in-depth discussion of
the biggest issues and areas that are transformational in sports and the law
CLE CREDIT
Approved for 4.5 New Jersey CLE credits (2.5 general + 1 ethics + 1 DEI) and 4 Pennsylvania
CLE credits (2 substantive + 2 ethics).
FORMAT
Live attendance and online attendance available.
COST TO ATTEND
Complementary for Seton Hall Faculty and Students. Seton Hall Law Alumni $50, All
others $100 for CLE
Seton Hall Faculty and Students: Free, use code SETONHALL26 to redeem
Panel I: Unprecedented - presented by Culture in Sports
Women's professional sports are experiencing an unprecedented, historic boom, shattering records across viewership, stadium attendance, franchise valuations, and corporate sponsorships. Once treated by major investors as secondary or subsidized markets, women’s sports leagues are proving to be standalone commercial powerhouses driven by massive fan engagement. This panel will explore the legal environment around these emergent professional sports and the opportunities for investors, female athletes, women professionals and executives and the meaning of this surge.
Panel II: Bargaining in College Sports - presented by Shumaker
Each of the major professional sports has gone through a period of labor unrest that has harmed its growth and ability to reach fans and embroiled it in a range of legal controversies. Whether the PCSA is past in the House of Representatives this year, it has become increasingly clear that the advent of NIL and the professionalization of collegiate sports needs some enforceable and consensus-based rules and the pathway to reaching those rules is ever more clearly through some form of bargaining with athletes. This panel explores the legal hurdles and how bargaining may be achieved.
Panel III: The Professors on Ethics
A 2026 Look at the Ethical Issues in Sports
Whether sports follows society, or society takes its cues from sports is an open question but 2026 was a fractious year by every measure in both Sports and Society with conflicts boiling over and flouting of rules and court orders. How can and how do lawyers in these fields manage the complexities of modern practice where transactions often end up in litigation and still adhere to the model rules. Current (ripped from the headlines) context where these topics will be explored include conflicts of interest in NIL and transfer portal transactions; what zealous defense of an institutional client yet maintaining deference to court orders and injunctions; challenges with competing clients and limited opportunities; and best practices for an ethical practitioner in a space that is volatile, dynamic and has been described as “the wild, wild west”- meaning without any rules.
Panel IV: Reimagining Collegiate Athletics - presented by Greenberg Traurig
This panel will discuss competing fixes for governance authority, athlete compensation, and contract enforcement – and the antitrust, wage-and-hour, and contract-law exposure each one creates, it is a counterpoint to the earlier panel that explores bargaining as a solution.
If you have any questions regarding registration, please contact Abdalrhman Saed at (201) 626-0297 or [email protected], or contact Robert Boland at [email protected].
All times are listed in Eastern Time.
9-9:50 a.m.
Breakfast
9:55 a.m.
Welcome & Introduction
10-11 a.m.
Panel I: Unprecedented - presented by Culture in Sports
Moderator: Professor Robert Boland
Live panelist: Olivia Mendes, Esq.
Counsel, National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), SHUL ’22
Read more>>
Virtual panelist: Julie Sommer, Esq.
Sommer Legal, Seattle, WA and Executive Director of the Drake Group Education Fund
Read more>>
Virtual panelist: Meg Patten
Founding Vice President of Fan Experience and Marketing, League One Volleyball (LOVB), LOVB Miami
Read more>>
11-noon
Panel II: Bargaining in College Sports - presented by Shumaker
Moderator: Professor Robert Boland, J.D.
Live panelist: Frank Hawkins, Esq.
Counsel Shumaker, former SVP National Football League
Live panelist: Bart Lambergman, Esq.
Senior Counsel Shumaker
Live panelist: Richard Winsten, Esq.
Attorney and Lobbyist, State & Broadway
Read more>>
Virtual Panelist: Dean Peter Goplerud
Current professor Florida A&M Law School, former law school dean at Southern Illinois, Oklahoma, Drake and Florida Coastal
Virtual Panelist: Professor Michael LeRoy
University of Illinois LER Alumni Professor of Labor and Employment Relations, affiliated faculty University of Illinois Law School
Read more>>
noon-1 p.m.
Lunch and Networking (Available Sponsorship Opportunity)
1-2 p.m.
Panel III: The Professors on Ethics
A 2026 Look at the Ethical Issues in Sports
Moderator: Professor Robert Boland, J.D.
Live panelist: Professor Jodi Balsam, J.D.
Brooklyn Law
Read more>>
Live panelist: Professor Andrew Bondrowicz
Rutgers Law, Bondarowicz & Associates
Live panelist: Dean Devon Corneal
Associate Dean for Academics, Seton Hall Law School and Professor for Professional Responsibility, SHUL ‘03
Read more>>
Live panelist: Professor Scott Rosner
Columbia University, Program Director and Professor of Professional Practice, M.S. in Sports Management
Live panelist: Professor Dan Lust
New York Law School & Fordham Law School, Morritt Hock & Hamroff
Remote panelist: Dean Peter Goplerud
Current professor Florida A&M Law School, former law school dean at Southern Illinois, Oklahoma, Drake and Florida Coastal
2-2:15 p.m.
Afternoon Break
2:15-3:15 p.m.
Panel IV: Reimagining Collegiate Athletics - presented by Greenberg Traurig
Moderator: Rob Dickson, J.D.
Greenberg Traurig, former Intercollegiate Athlete at Penn State
Read more>>
Live panelist: Khalil Wilkes, Esq.
Counsel, Excel Sports Management
Read more>>
Live panelist: Mark Houston, Esq.
WME/ William Morris Endeavor
Read more>>
Live panelist: Brian Michael Cooper, Esq.
Greenburg Traurig
Read more>>
