Darren Heitner
| Darren Heitner | |
|---|---|
| File:DarrenHeitner.jpgDarrenHeitner.jpg | |
| Born | February 9, 1985 Hollywood, Florida |
| 🏳️ Nationality | American |
| 🎓 Alma mater | University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law |
| 💼 Occupation | Lawyer |
| 📆 Years active | 2010-present |
Darren Adam Heitner (born February 9, 1985) is an American lawyer, author, and professor of law. He owns the Fort Lauderdale-based law firm Heitner Legal, and has represented numerous professional athletes including Antonio Brown, Draymond Green, Johnny Manziel, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Luis Castillo, and Fred VanVleet.[1][2][3]
Early life and education[edit]
Heitner was born on February 9, 1985, in Hollywood, Florida. He went to Nova High School, where he was a nationally ranked debater.[4]
In 2007, he graduated as valedictorian of the Liberal Arts and Sciences College at the University of Florida and in 2010, he graduated from the University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law.[5]
Career[edit]
In 2005, Heitner created Sports Agent Blog with the intention of becoming a sports agent.[6] It has since been listed as the top blog that every aspiring sports agent should read.[7]
In 2007, Heitner created a sports agency called Dynasty Athlete Representation and became registered as a sports agent at the age of 22.[8][9] The agency represented close to 40 clients while Heitner was growing it as a 2nd year law student.[10] In 2011, Heitner decided to cease work as an agent to focus full time on his practice as a lawyer.[11]
Heitner worked at two law firms from 2010 through June 2014 before creating Heitner Legal, P.L.L.C.[12] He was a Partner at Wolfe Law Miami prior to starting his own law firm.[13] Heitner has been honored for his work by being named to the University of Florida's 40 Gators Under 40 list and is the recipient of the University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law's Outstanding Young Alumnus Award.[14][15]
Notable clients[edit]
Heitner has represented numerous high-profile sports clients, including Drew Rosenhaus, Draymond Green, Fred VanVleet, Iman Shumpert, JuJu Smith-Schuster, Antonio Brown, Johnny Manziel, Terrell Owens, Xavien Howard, Trai Turner, Frank Gore, D.J. Moore, Jim Tomsula, Luis Castillo, Manny Ramirez, Rafael Furcal, Chris Pronger, Jason Belmonte, Paige VanZant, Rick Pitino and Bill Raftery.[16]
Draymond Green, Bill Raftery, and others have gone to Heitner for help with registering trademarks. For instance, Draymond Green worked with Heitner to register the mark "Money Green" and Bill Raftery was represented by Heitner in earning the registrations attached to "Onions" and "With a Kiss."[17][18] When the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) became the first 16th-seeded team to win against a No. 1 seed in the NCAA men's basketball tournament, it called on Heitner for trademark protection.[19] Former NFL running back LeGarrette Blount also trusted Heitner to help with registering the trademark to "Blount Force Trauma" and Johnny Manziel had Heitner's help in obtaining "COMEBACKSZN."[20]
Heitner represented Antonio Brown in a litany of issues. He represented Brown in the lawsuit where Brown was accused of throwing furniture off the balcony of his luxury Miami apartment building and almost hitting a small child.[21] He also helped represent Brown in the proceeding where Brown was accused of rape by a former trainer.[22] Heitner would later sever ties with Brown.[23]
In 2019, when former MLB infielder Luis Castillo was reportedly arrested for being part of an organized crime ring, Heitner assisted in clearing Castillo's record and restoring his reputation.[24] Heitner worked closely with Castillo to ensure that the arrest order was removed.[25]
Heitner also worked with Philip Martin McCaulay, who became famous for registering and applying for many "Washington" related trademarks and offered the Washington NFL team various trademark options as it sought to rebrand from its prior use of the Redskins.[26]
Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) advocacy[edit]
In September 2019, Florida Representative Chip LaMarca asked Heitner to assist with the development of a legislative agenda premised on providing college athletes in Florida the right to commercially exploit their names, images and likenesses for economic gain.[27] In June 2020, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the bill into law that Heitner helped create with Representative LaMarca, putting Florida in the lead among all states with regard to giving college athletes the ability to make money off of their publicity rights.[28]
Authorship[edit]
Heitner has authored two editions of How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, which were published by the American Bar Association.[29][30] He is also a contributing writer of An Athlete's Guide to Agents, 5th Edition, published by Jones & Bartlett.[31]
Heitner wrote a column for Forbes, titled "Sports Change Agent," from 2012 through August 3, 2018.[32] He also contributed to Inc. through a column titled, "Sports Inc." for many years.[33] Heitner currently writes about Sports Law topics regularly at Above the Law.[34]
Teaching[edit]
Heitner developed and began teaching a course titled, "Sports Agency Management," at Indiana University Bloomington in Fall 2011. In 2015, Heitner began teaching a Sports Law class for the graduate program in the University of Florida's Department of Tourism, Recreation and Sport Management as well as at the University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law. In 2020, Heitner was asked to return again to the University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law to teach Sports Law. Its Sports Law program is now recognized as a top program in the United States.[35]
References[edit]
- ↑ "Representative for Antonio Brown releases statement". 247Sports. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ McCann, Michael (2020-10-12). "From Beast Mode to 'Onions:' Trademark Attorney Heitner Builds a Brand on IP". Sportico.com. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ "Darren Heitner says "There is no truth to the allegation that Luis Castillo has been arrested"". Awful Announcing. 2019-08-20. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ "NCFL Grand Nationals Arlington, Virgina 2003" (PDF). Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "The Legal Blitz". thelegalblitz.com. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ "Playing the Game; Darren Heitner's Path to Sports Business Success". Front Office Sports. 2016-09-14. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ "Top Five Blogs Every Aspiring Sports Agent Should Read". Sports Management Degree Guide. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ "Q & A With The Sports Agent Part 1". New England Patriots. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ Rule, Hayes (2019-04-15). "Darren Heitner utilizes social media and blogging to stand out in the sports law industry". Medium. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ "UF student heads up, co–founds sports managing agency". The Independent Florida Alligator. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ Heitner, Darren (2017-07-06). "Why I Left Being Jerry Maguire Behind". Medium. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ Rule, Hayes (2019-04-15). "Darren Heitner utilizes social media and blogging to stand out in the sports law industry". Medium. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ "Let success be your noise: Prominent sports, entertainment attorney forms own law firm". www.sportingnews.com. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ "40 Gators Under 40 Outstanding Young Alumni Award Winners - University of Florida Alumni Association". connect.ufalumni.ufl.edu. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ "2020 Alumni Award Recipients". Levin College of Law. 2020-05-19. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ "Sports Law | Heitner Legal". heitnerlegal.com. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ Barker, Jeff. "UMBC wasn't thinking about trademarks. It is now". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ "Raftery files 'Onions,' 'With a kiss' trademarks". ESPN.com. 2014-11-04. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ Barker, Jeff. "UMBC wasn't thinking about trademarks. It is now". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ McCann, Michael (2020-10-12). "From Beast Mode to 'Onions:' Trademark Attorney Heitner Builds a Brand on IP". Sportico.com. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ Daniels, Tim. "Antonio Brown Attends Deposition as New Video Emerges of Thrown Furniture". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ COHEN, JAY. "Patriots WR Antonio Brown accused of rape by former trainer in lawsuit". baltimoresun.com. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ Strackbein, Noah. "Antonio Brown's Agent, Attorney Terminate Relationship with Receiver". Sports Illustrated Pittsburgh Steelers News, Analysis and More. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ "Darren Heitner says "There is no truth to the allegation that Luis Castillo has been arrested"". Awful Announcing. 2019-08-20. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ Fernandez, Andre. "Ex-major leaguers Luis Castillo and Octavio Dotel cleared of alleged ties to Dominican crime ring". The Athletic. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ Carmi, George. "Where We Stand in the Name Game". Sports Illustrated Washington Football News, Analysis and More. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ Swisher, Skyler. "Republican from Broward wants to fix an 'injustice' that bars college athletes from cashing in on their fame". sun-sentinel.com. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ Wells, Adam. "Florida to Be 1st State with NIL Rights for NCAA Athletes to Profit Off Likeness". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ "Interview with Sports & Entertainment Attorney Darren Heitner". the aspiring sports lawyer. 2019-04-23. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ "How to Play the Game: What Every Sports Attorney Needs to Know, Second Edition". www.americanbar.org. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ "Interview with Sports & Entertainment Attorney Darren Heitner". the aspiring sports lawyer. 2019-04-23. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ "Darren Heitner - Sports Change Agent". Forbes. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ "Darren Heitner's Articles". Inc.com. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ "Above the Law". Above the Law. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
- ↑ Harriger, Dylan (2021-02-10). "Top Sports Law Programs in the United States". Business of College Sports. Retrieved 2021-02-10.
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