Gordon & Rees is pleased to announce that David Cornwell, executive director of the NFL Coaches Association, has joined the firm’s Atlanta, Georgia office as partner. Mr. Cornwell will focus his practice on sports and entertainment law at Gordon & Rees.
Mr. Cornwell is nationally recognized for his representation of professional athletes, sports agencies, executives, and companies in the sports industry. His 25-year career includes positions such as Assistant League Counsel to the National Football League, sports agent with the group headed by Leigh Steinberg and Jeff Moorad, and Vice President and General Counsel for the Upper Deck Company and its affiliates. His professional athlete clients have included Ben Roethlisberger, Reggie Bush, and Ryan Braun.
His accomplishments in private practice include obtaining a $47 million verdict at the trial court level in Steinberg Moorad & Dunn v. Dunn, et al., successful representation of numerous athletes involved in league disciplinary matters, and serving as outside general counsel to Assante Sports Management. He earned a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. from Tufts University.
“After two years of looking for the right national platform, Gordon & Rees proved to be a perfect fit for my practice,” said David Cornwell. “The firm dramatically increases the national resources available to my traditional client base while preserving the personalized representation that my clients expect and deserve.”
Mr. Cornwell was recently appointed the executive director of the NFL Coaches Association, for which he is responsible for representing the interests of more than 500 assistant coaches in the National Football League. His leadership has made him one of the most sought-after analysts to discuss the legal aspects of breaking stories and trends in the sports industry.
“We are thrilled to have David join our emerging Sports, Media, and Entertainment practice,” said Anthony Mulrain, national chair of the firm’s Sports, Media, and Entertainment practice and managing partner of the Atlanta office. “His breadth of experience has been a tremendous advantage for his clients, who will get even more value from the additional support of the firm’s national counseling, litigation, and transactions practices.”
“David’s extensive track record of success in and knowledge about the sports industry will greatly enhance our Sports, Media, Entertainment practice, which has grown significantly of late in connection with both Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association, and, with David’s arrival, the National Football League,” said Dion Cominos, the firm’s managing partner. “We could not be more pleased to have David on board.”
The firm’s Sports, Media and Entertainment practice provides the full spectrum of specialty legal services required by the range of participants in these high-profile, global, multi-billion dollar industries. Our clients include athletes, sports agents, actors, writers, producers, directors in the motion picture and television business, recording artists, record producers, songwriters in the music business and authors, on-air television hosts and radio station personalities as well as publicly-traded, multinational media and telecommunications entities. We also assist individual and institutional investors involved in the music and motion picture industries.
