Sports Law Clinic
Sports Law Clinic Director Helen "Nellie" Drew speaking with students.
This exciting new clinic provides students with the opportunity to work on current issues in sports law and policy. Past projects have included developing NIL policy and procedures for UB's D1 Athletics Department, creating a model law and supporting white paper to require sports venues to implement emergency action plans ("Damar's Law"), and providing support to the public sector (Erie County) in negotiations for the Buffalo Bills new stadium project. Students in this clinic also submit papers for industry publication.
Helen "Nellie" Drew
Director of Sports Law Clinic; Professor of Practice in Sports Law; Director of the UB Center for the Advancement of Sport
Clinical Legal Education
Name, Image & Likeness (NIL) Project
UB School of Law’s Name, Image & Likeness (NIL) Project is designed to help students explore and develop licensing, policy making and client counseling skills while serving as support for the UB Athletic Department. Under the direction of law faculty, students will have the opportunity to work with Athletic Department representatives, including specific administrators in Compliance. Students will conduct research, draft client memoranda, and respond to issues arising during the course of the Athletic Department’s efforts to comply with the new New York State NIL legislation, NCAA and Mid-America Conference (MAC) regulation, and other state NIL legislation to the extent applicable.
Work in this project will involve:
- Analysis and comparison of recent NIL legislation across multiple jurisdictions;
- Researching and assessing policies and protocols adopted by other Division I institutions;
- Developing specific programming to meet the requirements of the New York State NIL legislation;
- Creating a compliance system to document the implementation of the programming described in #3;
- Researching and analyzing the various third party options available for NIL deals in terms of their value and compliance with relevant legislation and regulation;
- Identifying existing UB licensing/branding arrangements and the extent to which they impact UB’s capacity to engage with student-athletes in NIL transactions; and
- Researching and analyzing existing collectives which seek to compensate student-athletes, focusing upon:
a) the value such groups may bring to the University and/or the student-athlete; and
b) Any and all compliance, legal or other issues arising from such arrangements