Steps to Becoming a Sports Lawyer
Sports lawyers are highly trained individuals that know the ins and outs of various laws to best advocate for their clients. For those interested in pursuing this career, you should know what you’re signing up for! The journey will be competitive and lengthy—seven to eight years to be exact.
Here’s what these years will entail:
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Step One: Obtain an Undergraduate
The first step in becoming a sports lawyer is to complete an undergrad at an accredited university. While the vast majority of law schools leave your choice of major in your hands, they will have specific GPA requirements.
Top-ranking schools, like the T14 law schools, will have high GPA expectations. These schools typically expect students to have GPAs in the range of 3.8-4.0. To ensure you’re able to meet these expectations, it’s crucial you choose your major wisely!
Do not prioritize the esteem you believe a major will give you. Instead, prioritize your passions and interests to ensure you’re able to put in the effort to maintain high grades.
Consider also taking courses outside your major to explore other disciplines and broaden your skill set. Admissions committees appreciate seeing diversity on candidate’s transcripts.
Step Two: Gain Useful Experience
During your undergrad, you’ll have to partake in various extracurriculars, work, and volunteer experiences to build a solid law school resume. This experience does not have to be law-related but should help you develop skills related to law, such as leadership, communication, problem-solving, research, and time management.
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Your experience can help differentiate your application and prove you are ready for law school and a legal career.
Step Three: Write the LSAT or GRE
The most important part of your law school application is your LSAT score. The admissions committee will use this score to assess your potential to succeed in law school and thus weigh it heavily in their decisions.
More law schools are now accepting the GRE in lieu of the LSAT, in an attempt to offer more inclusivity and accessibility to students. If you feel the LSAT cannot accurately reflect your abilities, you should consider writing the GRE instead.
Regardless of the standardized exam you choose to write, it’s essential you create a solid study schedule that factors in any other time commitments you have.
Step Four: Go to Law School
After submitting a stellar application to your dream school and getting accepted, the next step is to complete your JD. Ensure you choose a law school that can offer you the best resources to succeed in sports law.
For instance, Tulane Law School was one of the first law schools to offer a certificate of specialization in Sports Law to its JD students. It has a renowned Sports Center that gives students the opportunity to work on real legal cases and get their feet wet!
Regardless of the law school you decide on, it’s essential you maintain high grades and network. Your grades and connections will influence the types of employment offers you receive post graduation.
Step Five: Complete the MPRE
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One of the many exams you’ll have to complete throughout your law school journey is the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE). This exam is designed to assess a law student’s ethics and professional conduct.
The majority of students write this exam during the summer of the second or third year of their JD to ensure they can dedicate enough time to prepare for it.
Step Six: Pass the Bar Exam
The final step before you can begin your career as a sports lawyer is to pass the bar exam. This final exam will provide you with the licensing to practice as an independent lawyer and assure you meet the necessary standards to practice law.
This bar is notorious for being difficult, so it’s essential you learn the correct strategy to manage it! Give yourself at least two months to prepare for the exam and set up a study schedule that you know you can stick to!
Step Seven: Obtain an LLM in Sports Law
While this final step is optional, some lawyers choose to gain advanced training in sports law by pursuing an LLM. This one-year program can increase your pay potential and job prospects.
However, the majority of sports lawyers do not have an LLM. Since many JD programs allow students to specialize in Sports Law, obtaining an LLM can be redundant and unnecessary.
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