Marquette professor to lead Sports Lawyers Association

MILWAUKEE (AP) — A professor at the Marquette University Law School has been named the next president of the Sports Lawyers Association.

Matt Mitten begins his two-year term in 2015 at the helm of the 1,700-member organization for those who practice and teach sports law.

Sports lawyers are different from sports agents in that they might serve as general counsel for a team or a personal lawyer for professional athletes.

Others get involved with high-profile cases, such as the Donald Sterling saga or the efforts of Northwestern University football players to unionize.

They might also be a part of a growing area of litigation — youth sports. Mitten says a handful of parents have sued after teenage athletes overexerted themselves in youth leagues and suffered injuries that might cost them college scholarships.