State Bar of Wisconsin

Section Member Profiles

Tom Kissinger

What is your current position and title?
Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary of The Marcus Corporation.

How did you get started in the practice of Entertainment Law?
While working as an associate at Foley and Lardner doing corporate law work, I was contacted by Steve Marcus.

What has your work in Entertainment Law included?
While The Marcus Corporation does have some connections with the entertainment industry, it is more of a real estate company, so most of my work is transactional.  The Marcus Corporation owns and operates several movie theaters and hotels.  I deal with human resource, union, insurance, and franchise issues.

What is your current involvement in the entertainment industry?
I work closely with the movie studios because of the theaters that The Marcus Corporation owns.  Additionally, The Marcus Corporation sponsors all of the local sports teams and typically visiting sports teams, as well as celebrities, stay at hotels owned by The Marcus Corporation.

What has been your most memorable experience in the area of Entertainment Law?
The Marcus Corporation was able to be a part of an interesting transaction when it sold their Baymont Hotel chain, which included over 100 hotels.  Without getting into details of who was there, etc., it was really unique and I enjoyed seeing it all come together in one night.

What do you hope to gain from your membership in the Sports & Entertainment Law Section?
Although, I am not a very active member, I hope to make contacts.

What would be your advice to young attorneys and law students who are hoping to practice in Entertainment Law?
Be prepared when an opportunity arises.  Don’t be too anxious, but at the same time make sure you are ready for it.  Be patient, but also be motivated.

Mary K. Braza

What is your current position and title?
Partner and Chair of the Sports Industry Team at Foley & Lardner LLP.

How did you get started in the practice of Sports Law?
I worked closely with Bob DuPuy, who was a litigation partner at the firm before he went to work as Chief Legal Officer and later President of Major League Baseball.  Through him, the firm handled a number of matters for MLB and I frequently worked alongside Bob and others at the firm on those matters.  One of the first I became involved with was the settlement of a large antitrust and defamation claim against Major League Baseball related to an unsuccessful attempt to move the Giants from San Francisco to Tampa.  I worked with MLB and the Clubs to pursue insurance coverage for the claims.

Bob was my mentor. When he left the firm in the fall of 1998, my partner, Jim McKeown, who is an antitrust lawyer, and I took over the MLB client relationship. In the next few years, I also worked on a variety of legal issues for MLB, including the launch of baseball’s internet company, Major League Baseball Advanced Media.

What has your work in Sports Law included?
Among the issues that I have handled are:

• As I mentioned before, I was very involved in the start-up of MLB Advanced Media.  I have continued to represent them in litigation, including a recent case from the 8th Circuit involving rights of publicity and fantasy baseball games
• I litigated a lawsuit in Florida involving an antitrust investigation into whether MLB could eliminate two Clubs, successfully arguing in the defense of baseball's antitrust exemption.  That case also went to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.
• I counseled baseball on the relocation of the Montreal Expos to Washington D.C. and handled an arbitration and mediation involving public funding for the new Nationals stadium.
• I negotiated the settlement of claims by the owner of the Baltimore Orioles concerning the relocation of the Washington Nationals Baseball Club; and
• I handled litigation by Comcast against MLB and the Orioles involving the formation of a new regional sports network covering the Mid-Atlantic States and the D.C. area.

What is your current involvement in the sports industry?
I am currently an outside advisor to MLB, involved in counseling and strategic planning on league-wide issues and working with a large group of other Foley lawyers to handle a wide array of business, intellectual property and litigation matters.  I also represent other clients who are interested in acquiring sports franchises in the U.S.

What has been your most memorable experience in the area of Sports Law?
Arguing in defense of the antitrust exemption in front of the Eleventh Circuit.  We took a very aggressive position by suing under the Civil Rights Act to stop the Florida Attorney General’s antitrust investigation.  We claimed that the antitrust exemption protected MLB’s right to eliminate teams and that it also acted to shield the league from an investigation into those activities.  The Eleventh Circuit panel was very active and began firing questions almost before I got my name out.  It was the quintessential appellate argument experience – the type they prepare you for in law school.

What do you hope to gain from your membership in the Sports & Entertainment Law Section of the State Bar of Wisconsin?
The section is a good opportunity to share information, especially current legal and business trends in the sports area.  I also appreciate being involved in Wisconsin’s sports community, since it is my home state.  We have a great tradition of both amateur and professional sports in our state and it is exciting to be a professional involved in sports here.

What would be your advice to young attorneys and law students who are hoping to practice Sports Law?
To get the broadest legal education and experiences possible.  Sports Law is a combination of general legal issues being applied to a specific industry.  Also, I recommend that young attorneys and law students read as much as they can to understand the business aspects of the sports industry.

Mary K. Braza interview conducted by Jessica Baranko, Marquette University Law School Class of 2010.  Tom Kissinger interview conducted by Jessica Schaak, Marquette University Law School Class of 2009, liaison to the Sports & Entertainment Law Section of the State Bar of Wisconsin.

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Board Member Profile

Brent Moberg recently joined the Sports & Entertainment Law Section Board of Directors.  Brent is the Director of Compliance in the Northern Illinois University (NIU) Department of Intercollegiate Athletics.  Prior to his arrival at Northern Illinois University, Brent worked in the athletic departments at the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater and Marquette University, and in the Law Office of Mario J. Tarara, P.C. in Rockford, Illinois. 

He earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Notre Dame, before earning the degrees of Juris Doctor and Master of Business Administration in Sports Business, each from Marquette University, and a Certificate in Sports Law from the National Sports Law Institute.  He is licensed to practice by the State Bar of Wisconsin and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. 

In addition to being a Sports & Entertainment Law Section Board Member, Brent is also a member of the National Sports Law Institute, the Marquette University Law School Sports Law Alumni Association, and the American Bar Association's Forum on the Sports and Entertainment Industries.

Brent has authored articles appearing in the University of Texas Review of Entertainment and Sports Law, the Marquette Sports Law Review, and the Journal of Legal Aspects of Sport.  A former Executive Editor of the Marquette Sports Law Review, Brent is also the creator, editor, and publisher of the Huskie Compliance Corner, NIU’s institutional athletics compliance newsletter. 

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Missed the Section's Annual Convention Program? Take a Look at the Presentation Materials

If you were you unable to attend the State Bar’s Annual Convention in May, you missed informative and entertaining presentations by Section Chair Beth Russell and Vice Chair Paul Anderson.  But don't despair – Beth and Paul were kind  enough to allow us access to their presentation materials. Enjoy!

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Message from the Chair

By Beth Russell, Russell Law

If anyone is well-suited to pen a “message from the Chair,” it’s me.

I almost never leave my chair! I’m guessing many of you are in the same boat.

Good news. The Sports & Entertainment Law Section will be providing a welcome opportunity for all of us to get off our … chairs … and start networking with one another. The section is planning an informal networking event to be held early next fall at a popular Milwaukee venue. (The precise venue is yet to be determined, but chances are it will feature a large retractable roof….)

During my first board meeting as Chair, I asked our board members why they’d chosen to become active in the section. Several replied, “in order to network with others.”  We’re guessing that networking is important to you, as well. So please watch your email for details on the upcoming event, and plan to join us for the first of what we hope will become regular opportunities to connect with fellow members of the section.

Speaking of watching your email: the section email list will soon be back in business. Very few of our members practice either sports or entertainment law on a full-time basis – but almost everyone fields sports and/or entertainment issues from time to time. The email list will be your opportunity to consult other section members, when those issues land on your desk.

Please note: section members are not automatically members of the email list. You have to opt-in. We’ll let you know when it’s back online, and we hope you’ll give it a try.

As a section, we must provide value and meet the expectations of our members. In addition to the networking and email list initiatives, the section has plans to build our WisBar Web page into a significant members-only resource for practitioners. We’re also planning our 2009 Annual Convention CLE program (already!) and we welcome your suggestions. Next year's convention is scheduled for May 6 - 8 in Milwaukee. Please email me with your thoughts.

Here’s an interesting thing. The Bar asked our section to think about how we will measure our success. The typical benchmark is: get more members. When I reported this to our board, several board members suggested that a more meaningful benchmark, for us, would be this: get the members we have, to participate.

I agree with that suggestion. More members would be great, and we certainly encourage members of the Bar to join our section. Indeed, we will actively seek new members. But the real measure of our success will be your active participation. Come to the networking event. Join the email list. Nominate board members. Contribute material for the newsletter. Suggest resources for the Web site. Help plan the convention CLE program. Contact any of our board members to get involved.

You’ve already joined the section. Now get off your … chair.

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