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Sports Law Institute Faculty

Michael McCann photoMichael McCann

Director and Professor of Law

Professor Michael McCann is one of the nation's leading experts in sports law, a seasoned sports attorney, and an award-winning teacher and scholar.  He received tenure in 2010 and is Director and Founder of the Sports Law Institute ("SLI").  As Director, McCann manages SLI's groundbreaking Blue Chips Program, which provides students with the core skills and hands-on experience needed to succeed in the sports world.  McCann receives counsel from SLI's dynamic Board of Advisers, which includes some of the nation's top sports industry leaders.

Professor McCann is also an award-winning journalist and broadcaster.  He is Sports Illustrated's Legal Analyst, the "Sports Law" columnist on SI.com (CNNSI), and the On-Air Legal Analyst for NBA TV.  Professor McCann's sports law commentary has attracted national acclaim, with honors from The American Lawyer, the Newhouse School of Public Communications, and the Society for Social Psychology and Personality (2011 Media Prize) for excellence in journalism and broadcasting.

Professor McCann is a prolific and frequently cited writer.  As of June 2012, he is the author of 18 law review articles and 160 legal columns and investigative articles for Sports Illustrated and SI.com. More...

Cell: 617-875-6132
Email: mmccann@vermontlaw.edu
Twitter: http://twitter.com/mccannsportslaw

photo Brian PortoBrian Porto

Deputy Director and Associate Professor of Law

Brian Porto has been writing about legal issues in sports for more than two decades. His writings focus on the effects of Title IX on college sports and on the relationship between those sports and higher education. His most recent book, The Supreme Court and the NCAA, examines the antitrust and due process consequences for college football and basketball of the United States Supreme Court's decisions in NCAA v. Board of Regents (1984) and NCAA v. Tarkanian (1988), respectively. His most recent article,was published this spring: "You'll Never Work (Or Play) Here Again: A Lingering Question In Title IX Retaliation Claims Brought By Coaches And Athletes After Jackson v. Birmingham Board of Education," 22 Marquette Sports Law Review 553 (Spring 2012).  He serves on the executive board of The Drake Group, which advocates reform of big-time college sports. Porto holds a JD from Indiana University-Bloomington and a PhD. in political science from Miami University (Ohio). Before coming to VLS, he taught political science at Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota and practiced law in Vermont. More...

Phone: 802-831-1144
Email: bporto@vermontlaw.edu

 

 

Jason OkaiJason Okai

Senior Fellow and Adjunct Professor of Law

 Jason Okai began teaching at Vermont Law School following seven years as an intellectual property attorney for the Motion Picture Association of America in Los Angeles.  There, he often worked closely with Major League Baseball and National Football League Properties on amicus briefs, including a brief in the first Bouchat v. Baltimore Ravens case, a copyright infringement suit about use of the Raven's use of its "flying B" logo.  On behalf of MPAA's member studios Jason worked on labor and union issues in the United States and abroad as well as several right of publicity cases involving similar issues to those faced by Electronic Arts and the NCAA in its case involving college athletes.  In addition to teaching intellectual property courses at VLS, he coached its National Baseball Arbitration team that recently competed in New Orleans.  Jason holds a BA from The University of Massachusetts at Amherst, a JD and Masters of Intellectual Property from Franklin Pierce Law Center (now The University of New Hampshire School of Law).  Jason played for two seasons on the VLS hockey team, and although he is a fan of many sports cricket is his obsession.