It is with great pleasure that I introduce you to the 2013 Ruling Sports summer interns! These five individuals were chosen out of many applicants because of their knowledge of the law, great writing skills and passion for sports. I am looking forward to working with them this summer and hopefully serving as a mentor as they move forward with their careers.
JARED BERMAN
After culminating his third “best sportsmanship” trophy in youth basketball, Jared Berman realized his moral fiber surpassed his jump shot and reevaluated his long-term goal of becoming the next Kobe Bryant. Determined on having sports a part of his life, he set out to be a analyst, hoping one-day to influence the professionals he grew up idolizing.
Born in Long Beach, California and raised just south in Irvine, Berman had the luxuries of the beach at his fingertips with the enjoyment of the Angels, Ducks, and Lakers just a short drive away.
Berman has since become a student at Chapman Law School, anticipating to graduate in May of 2015. He was the only first-year selected on Chapman’s Mock Trial Team, and is interested in trial advocacy and sports law. He is a self-proclaimed fantasy football guru, hard-core problem solver, and his favorite meal of the day is caffeine. Berman founded a website, SportsNLaw.com, which provides sports news through a legal lens.
Twitter: @realsportsnlaw
Email: berma118@mail.chapman.edu
MAYA BURCHETTE
Maya Burchette is a rising second year law student at Tulane University in New Orleans.
Originally from Denver, Colorado, Maya earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Howard University in Washington, DC. While at Howard Maya competed for three years for the Lady Bison softball team and was awarded the Howard Athletics Academic Excellence Award and was named to the Middle Eastern Athletic Conference All Academic Team. Additionally, she served as the President of the Colorado Club and was a contributing writer for the Howard University News Service.
Currently she is the social media coordinator for the Tulane Sports Law Society @TulaneSportsLaw and Vice President of Tulane’s La Alianza De Recho.
A life long sports fan and athlete, she loves how sports often transcend the human experience and ultimately Maya hopes to break into the sports law and work in the industry as in house counsel. When she has spare time, she enjoys cooking, crossfit and watching the Denver Broncos.
Twitter: @MayaBurchette
Email: mayaburchette@gmail.com
MARK BURNS
Mark graduated from the University of Michigan in May 2011 and will enter his third year of law school at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee this upcoming fall. He has aspirations of working in the sports business industry upon graduation in 2014.
He was recently named a 2013 “30 Under 30” Award Recipient (Sports Launch Magazine) in addition to being named A Rising Star In #SportsBiz for 2013 (SportsNetworker.com).
This summer, Mark will participate in the Second Annual Manhattan Sports Business Academy, an 8-week summer sports business leadership program in New York City. MSBA is designed for undergraduate and graduate students and young professionals who want to gain invaluable experience in the sports industry and get a jump start into the fast paced, high energy sports business world through internships, mentoring, and networking.
As part of the program, Mark will be interning with the General Counsel at Leverage Agency in New York City. He will also continue his current role as the Assistant Producer for SportsNetworker.com and the Sports Executives Association in addition to writing regularly for BusinessofCollegeSports.com, a blog started by ESPN’s Sports Business Reporter, Kristi Dosh.
Mark’s past internships include time spent with the Nashville Predators, Central Collegiate Hockey Association, and Elite Talent Agency.
Twitter: @MarkJBurns88
Email: burnmark@umich.edu
KRISTOPHER COLLEY
Kristopher [Kris] Colley is a junior psychology major and journalism minor at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia who is from Denver, Colorado. Kris’ hobbies include watching, talking about, and playing sports. Growing up and still today, sports have been one of the only things he fully relates to. In the past, Kris has played baseball, and basketball competitively, but his favorite sport to play and watch is football.
Kris’ goal for many years has been becoming a sports journalist. He also loves travelling, which sports journalist do a great deal of and believes that becoming a sports journalist would allow him to accomplish two of his loves, sports and travelling.
As a writer, Kris enjoys educating readers on various topics. Informing them on news and helping them gain a further insight on a subject or story. Kris feels that by being helpful, people begin to trust and listen to you. Kris enjoys being a role model and leading others by example.
Email: kcolley5293@gmail.com
CHRISTIAN DEME
In law school, the areas of law that I hope to become an expert in are intellectual property, antitrust, and labor and employment. Will it get to me to where I want to be? I will see in years to come. However, If I could sit down, get in exercise and write about sports each and everyday for the rest of my life, there is no doubt that I have landed my ‘dream job’ (of course, I am hoping I can do that somewhere in a hot climate near a beach, each and everyday, it’s the “New Jersey” within).
Law school from a sports perspective thus far, has allowed me to provide legal analysis for different issues in the sports industry thus far. From an intellectual property law perspective, I am fascinated by the current class action lawsuit, O’Bannon v. NCAA. In a nutshell, there are two key issues riding on the lawsuit: 1) Is the language in Student Athlete Form 08-3a ambiguous on its face, allowing the NCAA to perpetually stripped the former student-athletes ability to license themselves to corporations in order to make money for themselves? Has the NCAA and Electronic Arts 2) has the NCAA and Electronic Arts violated the former student-athletes’ ‘right of publicity?’ In other words has the NCAA and Electronic used former collegiate student-athletes protected attributes for its own commercial benefit?
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