Industry focus
How I represent clients at Schwabe
Drawing on my prior experience as general counsel, I deliver insight into my clients’ business challenges and create tailored solutions that help them reach their goals. The depth of my background working directly with senior management, boards of directors, and ownership in all business growth stages enables me to serve as a trusted legal advisor to clients across many industries.
In the sports and entertainment industry, I provide legal advice to NBA, MLS, and MiLB teams and venue clients in their most vital strategic matters. I negotiate the foundational agreements that drive business success, including public-private venue partnerships, naming rights, jersey sponsorships, media rights, event licensing, food and beverage contracts, ticketing platforms, and a range of other commercial and licensing transactions.
In the broader consumer products space, I help clients navigate complex negotiations and secure agreements crucial to business operations, including licensing deals, technology agreements, SaaS arrangements, distribution contracts, co-manufacturing agreements, shared services agreements, and other commercial deals at the core of business growth and success.
Before joining Schwabe, I served as Senior Vice President and General Counsel for the Portland Trail Blazers and the Rose Quarter for 13 years, where I provided counsel on all legal and strategic matters, including contract negotiations, business operations, NBA player and league issues, business disputes, internal investigations, and risk management and compliance. Prior to the Trail Blazers, I was an international capital markets attorney in London and a corporate transactional attorney in Portland, having clerked for a federal district judge in Arizona.
Experience
Sports and entertainment matters include:
- Naming rights for an NBA and concert venue.
- Jersey patch sponsorship for an NBA franchise.
- Multiple linear, over-the-air, and digital media rights deals.
- Co-promotion agreement for an outdoor stadium concert series.
- Ticketing platform agreements for NBA and MLS venues.
- Food and beverage vendor agreements for NBA and G-league venues.
- Asset sales of two NBA Development League franchises.
- Team and league investigations.
Commercial and corporate transactions include:
- Licensing agreement for an Oregon brewery to expand brewpub and out-of-state distribution.
- Cloud-based grant management system for a charitable trust to support approximately $25M in annual giving.
- Exclusive international distribution and white-label co-manufacturing agreement for a tire company.
Education
- University of Chicago, Law School, Juris Doctor (2004)
Admissions
- California State Courts
- Oregon State Courts
Awards
Forty under 40 Honoree, Portland Business Journal (2017)
Additional Events
- Venue Contracting Trends, Speaker, IAVM VenueConnect Annual Conference, July 2024
- Martin Luther King Jr. Lecture Series, Speaker, Lewis & Clark Law School, Spring 2023
- Emerging Issues in Sports: What’s on the Horizon for Young Professionals, Panelist, Tulane University Sports Law Conference, Spring 2023
- How Sports Teams Operate, Panel Moderator, Lewis & Clark Law School Sports Law Conference, Fall 2022
- Hot Topics in Sports Law, Panelists, University of Miami Global Entertainment & Sports Law + Industry Conference, Miami, Spring 2022
Services
Community Activities
- Trail Blazers Foundation, President (2014-2020), Board Member (2013-2022)
- Lewis & Clark Center for Innovation, Board Member (2019-present)
- Girls Inc. of the Pacific Northwest, Board Member (2014-2019)
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