David G. Feher

David G. Feher

David G. Feher is a partner in the firm's New York Litigation Department and co-chair of its Sports and Entertainment Litigation Group. He is one of the leading sports lawyers in the country. He also has extensive experience in complex litigations and arbitrations involving antitrust, intellectual property, contract and international issues.

Mr. Feher has been an outside counsel for the NFL Players Association and the NBA Players Association for nearly 20 years, among other clients in the sports law field. He is one of the principal negotiators of the collective bargaining agreements in the NFL (1993, 1996, 1998, 2002, 2006), the NBA (1995, 1999, 2005), and the Arena Football League (2004). He is highly experienced with salary cap and team revenues in each of those sports, having served on the salary cap/revenue review committees in both the NFL and NBA since the early 1990s. Mr. Feher co-authored the revenue reporting accounting procedures in the NFL, and has been primarily responsible for monitoring the NFL's compliance with those requirements since the salary cap/revenue sharing system was first implemented in the NFL in 1993. He also successfully represented the Professional Hockey Players Association (PHPA) in negotiations with the NHL concerning the impact on PHPA members of various provisions of the 2005 collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and NHLPA.

Mr. Feher also represents the player board members on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, including negotiating the new Prize Money Formula system for the WTA's Roadmap restructuring. He also helped lead the firm's pro bono team that represented double-amputee Oscar Pistorius in the successful, historic effort to overturn the ban against Mr. Pistorius competing in IAAF track events and attempting to qualify for the Olympics.

Mr. Feher has also been one of the principal counsel in many prominent sports cases and arbitrations, including the Reggie White and Patrick Ewing class actions, the Michael Vick roster bonus forfeiture arbitration, the Terrell Owens arbitrations, the NFL debt limit collusion arbitration, the Arena Football League class action, the Oakland A's valuation arbitration, the Curtis Martin arbitration, the Steve McNair arbitration, the Bill Belichick/New York Jets litigation, and the Latrell Sprewell grievance. Mr. Feher represented Joe Smith in an arbitration that overturned the NBA's efforts to prevent Mr. Smith from re-signing with the Minnesota Timberwolves, and John Elway in an arbitration concerning his contracts with the Denver Broncos. Mr. Feher also negotiated Avon's sponsorship of the 1996 Olympic Games, Avon's licensing contract with Derek Jeter, and Olympic athlete sponsorship contracts in the fashion industry.

Mr. Feher has been involved in numerous other major cases, including the Freeman McNeil/NFL antitrust trial, the NASDAQ price fixing class action, and the NCAA/NIT antitrust trial. Mr. Feher successfully defended Avon Products, Inc. against a $100 million false advertising claim in the S.C. Johnson v. Avon Products trial concerning consumer use of Avon bath oil as an insect repellent and has also represented Avon in NAD advertising proceedings. Mr. Feher represented the New York Stock Exchange in connection with the "decimalization" of NYSE trading operations, and has advised companies involved in price-fixing investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice. Mr. Feher was also the principal author of the export controls compliance program for a major international airline and recently represented a Turkish company in successfully vacating an arbitration award on grounds of evident partiality. He has represented a large number of large US and international companies in various matters, and has extensive experience litigating complex commercial disputes.

Mr. Feher often writes and speaks on antitrust and sports topics, and has served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Benjamin Cardozo School of Law.

Mr. Feher was recognized in Chambers USA - America's Leading Lawyers for Business (2005-2008) as a leader in the field of Sports Law "whose experience as one of the principal outside counsel for the NFLPA, and the NBPA, serves to mark him out as one of the country's leading sports attorneys." No lawyer from any other firm representing non-ownership parties was ranked higher. He also was selected in the first 100 Lawdragon's "New Stars" in 2006.

Bar Associations, Memberships and Activities

· American Bar Association

· Sports Lawyers Association

Speeches & Programs

· Guest Lecturer, "Sports Law -- Player-Union Relations," Columbia Law School, New York, New York (September 17, 2008).

· Guest, "Oscar Pistorius," CBC Sun Day Newsmagazine Program, Canadian Broadcasting Company (May 18, 2008)

· Panelist, "Sports Law Careers," New York University Law School, New York, New York (January 23, 2008).

· Guest Lecturer, "Sports Law -- Player Discipline," Columbia Law School, New York, New York (September 12, 2007).

· Sports Lawyers Association, 33rd Annual Conference, "Legal Ethics in the Evolving World of Sports Agents," Cambridge, Massachusetts (May 17, 2007).

· Duke Law School, "Democracy and Liberty: Representing Athletes and Player Associations In The Real World," Durham, North Carolina (March 28, 2007).

· American Conference Institute, Sports Law Leadership Summit, "Understanding the Antitrust Implications of Sports Leagues," New York, New York (September 28, 2006).

· Guest Lecturer, "Sports Law -- Arbitration," Columbia Law School, New York, New York (September 27, 2006).

· Guest Speaker, "Recent Developments in the NFL/Collective Bargaining," Duke Law School, Durham, North Carolina (March 20, 2006).

· Guest Lecturer, "Sports Law," Columbia Law School, New York, New York (October 12, 2005).

· Guest Lecturer, "Big Suits: Temporary Restraining Orders," Columbia Law School, New York, New York (September 14, 2005).

· Guest Lecturer, "Entertainment and Media: Markets and Economics," Stern School of Business, New York University, New York, New York (April 25, 2005).

· Guest Speaker, "Fans and Professional Athletes, The Pacers/Pistons Incident & Its Implications for Professional Sports," Duke Law School, Durham, North Carolina (March 3, 2005).

· Keynote Speaker, "Winning at all Costs: Today's Addiction, A Conference on Sports Law & Ethics," sponsored by Valparasio Law School, Chicago, Illinois (February 11, 2005).

· Guest Lecturer, "Entertainment and Media: Markets and Economics," Stern School of Business, New York University, New York, New York (May 3, 2004).

· Yale Law School Entertainment & Sports Law Conference, "Top Tier Practitioners on the Legal Affairs of the NBA," New Haven, Connecticut (April 23, 2004).

· "ADR in the Professional Sports World: The Similarities, Differences, Pros and Cons," The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, New York, New York (March 31, 2004).

· "Maurice Clarett's Challenge to the NFL's Age Requirement," 8th Annual Fordham University Sports Law Symposium, New York, New York (March 26, 2004).

· "50 Years of Sports Law: A Retrospective," Eleventh Annual Villanova Sports & Entertainment Law Journal Symposium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (March 20, 2004).

· "Representing the Athlete: On and Off the Court," St. John's University School of Law, Jamaica, New York (February 7, 2004).

· San Juan, Puerto Rico, "Bunts, Dunks, Punts and Strikes in Professional Sports Arbitration," Proceedings of the 55th Annual meeting of the National Academy of Arbitrators (June 6, 2003).

· New York, NY, "Collective Bargaining in Sports," Industrial Relations Research Association, New York City Chapter (December 11, 2002).

· New York, NY, "Careers as Labor and Employment Lawyers in the Entertainment and Sports Industries," New York University Law School, Center for Labor and Employment Law (April 10, 2002).

· New York, NY, "Conflicts of Interest in Sports," Fordham Law School, 6th Annual Symposium on Current Legal Issues in Sports (March 15, 2002)."

· New York, NY, "Special State Income Taxes on Visiting Professional Athletes," Fox National News (February 22, 2002).

· New York, NY, "Sports Law & Dispute Resolution Symposium," Moderator, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (November 29, 2001).

· New York, NY, "Revenue Sharing, Contraction, Arbitration, and Other Related Issues In Major League Baseball," Columbia Law School, Entertainment, Arts, Sports Law Society Panel (April 18, 2001).

· New York, NY, "Sports & Entertainment Law Panel," Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, Black Law Students Association (April 17, 2001).

· New York, NY, "Player Conduct & Discipline," Understanding Business & Legal Aspect of the Sports Industry, Practising Law Institute (February 15, 2001).

· New York, NY, "Developments in Sports Law Arbitration," New York Law School & New York State Bar Association, Entertainment, Arts & Sports Law Section: Committee on Professional Sports, 4th Annual Sports Law Symposium (November 10, 2000).

· New York, NY, "Understanding Business & Legal Aspects of the Sports Industry," Player Contracts, Player Conduct & Discipline, Practising Law Institute (February 17, 2000).

· New Haven, CT, "Recent Developments in Sports Law," Yale Entertainment & Sports Law Association, Spring Speaker Series, Yale Law School (February 15, 2000).