U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit 2012 Judicial Conference

I'm honored to be a speaker at this year's U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit Judicial Conference. The conference will be held next month, from August 8 to August 10, in Kansas City. This year's conference title is "“Landmark Litigation in the Eighth Circuit Courts: Views from the Bench, Bar and Academy”. The conference agenda can be read here and information on attending can be found here.

More so than any other federal circuit in recent years, the Eighth Circuit has played a pivotal role in the development of U.S. sports law. This includes deciding Tom Brady et al. v. NFL, a decision which led to the NFL and NFLPA ending the 2011 NFL Lockout.

I'll be on the labor relations in professional sports law panel with Indiana University Dean Gary Roberts, who previously represented the NFL, and former St. Louis Rams Executive VP and General Counsel Bob Wallace. Judge Mary Vasaly will moderate the panel, which will begin at 9:15 am on Thursday August 9.

Labor Relations in Professional Sports:
Does Federal Law Level the Playing Field

Introductions:

Judge Mary R. Vasaly
Minnesota Judicial Branch
Fourth Judicial District

Panel:

Professor Michael McCann
Professor of Law & Director of Sports Law Institute
Vermont Law School

Dean Gary R. Roberts
Gerald L. Bepko Professor of Law
Robert H. McKinney School of Law
Indiana University

Mr. Robert E. Wallace, Jr.
Partner
Chair, Sports Law Group
Thompson Coburn LLP

The conference has a number of distinguished speakers with sports law ties, including Paul Clement, who argued for the NFL in Brady v. NFL and for NBA players in Carmelo Anthony et al. v. NBA, and Ted Olson, who argued for the NFLPA in the Brady case. Other notable speakers include U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, Baylor University President Dean Ken Starr, who served as Independent Counsel while Bill Clinton was President, and Ohio State Law Professor Douglas Berman.