GR Law Firm (former UM Player) enters NIL Arena

https://grbj.com/news/law/varnums-new-nil-team-tackles-college-sports/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin&utm_term=grand+rapids+business+journal&utm_content=1e3dc379-3688-4f61-a43a-5f190306eece

When I saw the headline I thought Rich Hewlett may be involved.  He was a QB from 1979-82 and started against Ohio State as a freshman.  His son is a recent graduate and he is very active in fundraising activities.  The firm is based in Grand Rapids but I think he is out of the Detroit area.  Anything they can do to make NIL work better for us is a good thing.

That's pretty cool. I would imagine this is a complex area, so anything we can do to get out in front is fantastic.

Well that's pretty cool. Best of luck to them.

As to your question: the initiative for establishing such a program has to come from the Big Ten. Ethical rules prevent law firms from reaching out to prospective clients and offering to represent them (with some exceptions, none of which are at issue here). The Big Ten probably already has its go-to law firms, and I'm not sure if Varnum is among them. The conference may already be working on something behind the scenes, but for now, we're still in the Wild West phase of the post-Alston landscape.

Maybe I missed a part of this but that basically just reads as a PR release from a law firm indicating "we have formed a team of attorneys that will work on NIL matters and would like your business."  Sure, that's fine to have a practice group for this type of work.

It's an emerging area of the law (although a small practice) and people (including athletes) will have NIL questions and need representation.  FWIW, I recently negotiated my first NIL collective deal last month and am learning a bit about some of the industry standards.

As an attorney, which I am, this is a law firm trying to plant a steak in the ground (MSU references aside). However, many of these players and their families will still be gullible to whatever attorney gets their ear.

Varnum is a law firm in Michigan, it isn’t the best or scariest, it just is there. I’ve had cases against them and, they are ok. But they will suffer from the fact that no one really considers Grand Rapids firms to be “premiere”. 
 

a WSU or CMU or even a MSU player might engage them, but they don’t have a presence int Detroit or A2.

now if Clark Hill or Honigman or Miller Canfield or Dykema get in this, that’s where Detroit area athletes might go.

I rate this as "Late to the Party"

There also is really not as much money in NIL as one might think.