By Jeremy M. Evans ‘11
Director, Center for Sports Law & Policy
The Center for Sports Law & Policy at Thomas Jefferson School of Law (TJSL) is churning out some great future sports lawyers and professionals. Recently, some terrific news was received when several Sports Fellows received their dream job offers and began working. We reached out to them and asked them some questions about their new jobs and how they received their job offers. Here are the stories in their own words.
John Young ’14
Compliance Coordinator at the University of California, Riverside (UCR)
“I found out about the job on the school's [UCR] job website and initially had a phone interview with a panel. I was then brought onto campus for a full day of interviews with coaches, counselors, and administrators. The following day I was offered the position as the compliance coordinator.
During the interviews, I emphasized my experiences at my prior internship at the University of San Diego and the problem solving skills I developed in law school. I described how the sports law and policy program at TJSL, the sports law classes, and research papers I wrote during law school carried over to my success at USD and will continue in the future.
Under the supervision of the Director of Compliance, I will be doing such tasks as monitoring UCR coaches', specifically compliance with NCAA bylaws regarding recruiting and practice times. Also, I will be monitoring student-athlete eligibility, financial aid, amateurism, and aiding in NCAA rules education across campus. Lastly, my position reports UCR's violations to the NCAA and submit waivers for student-athletes.”
Jonathan Stahler ’14
Legal Consultant at Upside Media Group, LLC (UMG) in Miami, Florida
“I have been working at Upside Media Group as Legal Consultant and soon-to be Counsel once I hear from the Bar. I am also awaiting my applications to get certified as an agent with the NBPA and the state of Florida. I work on contracts, legal research, and marketing.
Once I knew I was moving to Florida, I made a list of sports and entertainment firms in South Florida and starting cold calling and sending resumes. I have a friend from Syracuse who is currently in law school at Villanova and also works for UMG, and that helped me since I had a foot in the door. I had a series of phone interviews and got officially hired at graduation.”
William Kava ’12
Assistant Director of Compliance at University of Washington (UW) Intercollegiate Athletics
“Currently I am working as an Assistant Director for Compliance at the UW Athletics Department. I deal with initial academic eligibility issues for football, women's volleyball, women's gymnastics, and women's soccer. I am responsible for general compliance education for all NCAA bylaws for those sports mentioned as well. I am also a liaison between our athletics department and our schools admissions department. I also handle monitoring duties for all UW sports, which includes playing and practice monitoring, coaching staff personnel, student athlete employment, and permissible and non-permissible student athlete benefits.
I received my current job through networking with athletic department staff members. I had that opportunity because I was interning in the compliance departments at Cal State San Marcos and San Diego State during law school. Networking helped me get a few interviews, but the compliance internships I received was due to help from Randy Reliford in Career Services at TJSL and projects I did at the direction of Rodney Smith (former Director at the Center for Sports Law & Policy). I needed those experiences to get the job at UW.”
Benjamin Gaus ’13
Athletics Compliance Coordinator & ICA Director of Legal Affairs at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis)
“After interning at UCLA for one year (May 2012-May 2013), I was one of two finalist for a full-time position. UCLA offered the position to the other final candidate, as he had just completed a paid one-year internship at the University of Oregon. A few months later, my supervisors at UCLA knew that UC Davis was looking to add to their department, and suggested UC Davis contact me. UC Davis called me to gauge my interest, flew me in for an interview, and offered the job.
Initially, the position was intended to be the standard Compliance Coordinator job. That position includes: handling all questions regarding NCAA bylaws and interpretations, monitoring CARA (Countable Athletically Related Activity or "practice") logs, approving camps/clinics, processing any and all waivers (medical hardship waivers, legislative relief waivers, student-athlete reinstatement waivers, etc.), along with submitting violations and conducting investigations (as necessary). However, I have also been given the opportunity to be the Director of Legal Affairs for Intercollegiate Athletics. Within this role, I give legal perspective on issues within the athletic department. More specifically, I draft and review contracts for UC Davis football games, review concussion procedures, and act as the liaison to ensure we are in compliance with Title IX and settlement agreements re: lawsuits brought against UC Davis Athletics.”
Terrific news indeed! There are plenty more alums who have made a success of themselves, too many to mention in this article. Visit The Center for Sports Law & Policy. You can also connect via social media - Facebook and Twitter. Also, take a look at the upcoming National Sports Law Negotiation Competition hosted by the CSLP at TJSL.
