A New Adventure

I am starting a blog. Why? I want to contribute an additional forum for ideas, discussion, healthy debate & information exchange on current topics in sports law, sports business and sports in general. Plus, blog is a funny sounding word. Say it! Blog …

This is how I how I see it working.

What: This blog is designed to inform and engage you on the above topics (sports law, sports business and sports in general).

Who: I will write regular blog entries on current topics in sports law and sports business that I find interesting, where I think that my opinion or comments might be interesting to others. Feel free to comment, get in on the conversation, ask questions, etc.

Ground Rules: (of course there are rules!)
I encourage, invite, welcome and want comments ---whether you agree or disagree - so long as (1) you are willing to include your name (actual name, no screen names please) with the comment (Blog alert: I personally find anonymous comments or comments by those hiding behind “screen names” to be frustrating and have little use for them), and (2) the comment adds value. How will value be determined? It’s my blog. I’ll be “the decider.”

Introductions and rules aside, it is my sincere hope that others will find this blog to be as valuable a resource as I have found the blogs I visit to be.

FYI: Many of the blogs I visit are written by established journalists. I believe blogs allow these journalists to write in greater depth than they might otherwise be able to or even to delve into topics that editors may view as too specialized for their readership. For example, check out Alan Abrahamson’s blog (http://blogs.universalsports.com/olympics/alanabrahamson).

Other blogs provide an opportunity for distinguished subject-matter experts to share their insightful opinions with an interested audience who might not otherwise have access to those opinions. In the area of sports law, the Sports Law Blog (http://sports-law.blogspot.com/) fits this description.

Here are my stats:
I have been a sports lawyer for over 10 years (and a lawyer for 20), with a particular area of emphasis in the area of anti-doping.

I also teach sports law as an Adjunct Professor at Southwestern Law School in Los Angeles, California.

I have defended over 70 athletes in doping cases around the world. I have handled these cases before the Court of Arbitration for Sport, American Arbitration Association, National Football League, Major League Baseball, Association of Tennis Professionals (“ATP”), Nevada State Athletic Commission, California State Athletic Commission, America’s Cup, and others. I have also represented numerous athletes in civil lawsuits, including products liability lawsuits arising from contaminated supplements that lead to doping suspensions. I have had the opportunity to represent some of the greatest athletes in the world, and have worked both with and against exceptional lawyers around the world. I also love dogs, but only large and athletic ones.

My expertise in the area of sports law has been noted by the Los Angeles Times (“one of the leading sports lawyers in the United States”), USA Today (“Athletes accused of cheating find perfect advocate”), San Jose Mercury News (“Defense never rests if Jacobs takes case, athletes want him when USADA calls”), Wall Street Journal (“A bad summer for athletes is good business for Jacobs”) and the Christian Science Monitor (“For athletes accused of taking drugs, a Perry Mason of their own”), among others.


Thank you,
Howard Jacobs
www.athleteslawyer.com