Richard L. Brand

SAN FRANCISCO - Sports attorney Richard L. Brand said he credits much of his success in sports law to being in the right place at the right time. As an associate specializing in real estate at the time, he walked into a practice that has led him down a path to being recognized as one of California's top deal makers.

"My entry into sports law was more serendipitous than intentional," he said. "Although I always loved sports, I never had imagined having a high-profile career in sports. When I first started at ArentFox Schiff, I didn't even know the firm had a sports practice. But I worked for David Osnos, one of the firm's preeminent partners (and my main mentor) on a major real estate transaction and once it was completed, he asked me to work on a new arena for his client Abe Pollin who owned the Washington Bullets (now the Washington Wizards) and the Washington Capitals."

After four years of being involved in every facet of a new arena and the operation of a professional NBA team, Brand took his newly gained experience and expanded his practice into an expansive multi-faceted sports practice and has represented and continues to represent well over 25 teams and sports facilities over the years in virtually every area of transactional sports.

"Although my sports practice is quite broad and I am involved in most types of sports-related transactions, the recent transactions I am most proud of are unrelated but quite similar in terms of scope and substance," Brand said. "I have had the pleasure of leading the ArentFox Schiff team in working through most, if not all, of the suite licensing, sponsorship, naming rights and related procurement transactions in connection with the opening and operation of the iconic SoFi Stadium, which is the home of the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers."

As that work began to wind down, Brand said he was then fortunate enough to play a similar role for San Diego State University in connection with the sponsorship, naming rights, procurement and multimedia transactions for the recently opened Snapdragon Stadium.

"These are particularly interesting projects because it gives us the opportunity to play a large and continuous role for major projects rather than representation of a client on a one-off basis," he continued to say. "Where most deals last two or three months, these deals lasted for years which enables you to develop deep and lasting relationships with the clients."

Brand's entire legal career has been with ArentFox Schiff LLP.