The University of Miami School of Law’s Entertainment, Arts, and Sports Law Graduate Program held the first-ever “The Art of the Sneaker Deal,” a two-day case study competition and conference, took place March 3 and 4, 2022, on the Coral Gables campus. The competition and conference are a collaboration between EASL and Sneaker Law and more than 100 joined this first-time event.
Competition - 14 Teams
On day 1, 14 teams competed in the preliminary rounds of the case study competition. 8 of the teams were from Miami Law including two teams of 1L students, and 6 of the teams were from the outside including Brooklyn, Pepperdine, Marquette, Southern Law Center, and Georgia State. All teams except Marquette participated in-person.
The competition case studies allowed competitors to represent artists, designers, and brands on issues including intellectual property protection of sneakers, rights of publicity, licensing deals, and collaboration agreements and judged by industry lawyers and business executives. The competition included a half-day conference touching on legal and business issues impacting the sneaker industry.
On day 1, 14 teams competed in the preliminary rounds of the case study competition. In the first case study, participants were representing BALENCIAGA or designer Aleali May on a collaboration agreement. The sneakers were to debut on Heat star and sneaker king PJ Tucker and there was to be an activation at KITH on release day. The competitors laid out the agreements that would best protect their clients’ interests. They identified the most important terms and drafted best language. Case Study 2 switched to litigation. It mirrored an active case that has been in the news – Nike suing designer John Geiger for infringing upon the registered trade dress of Nike’s iconic Air Force One.
Case Study 2 switched to litigation. It mirrored an active case that has been in the news – Nike suing designer John Geiger from infringing upon the registered trade dress of Nike’s iconic Air Force One. What made this even more special were that among the judges were the lawyers representing Geiger!
The final teams were asked to negotiate an NFT deal between StockX and ARI SAAL FORMAN (who judged) to mint an NFT of his legendary Ari Menthol 10s to be wearables in the metaverse. In the end, Brooklyn Law edged Miami Law for the first annual Sneaker Law x Miami Law trophy.
“We were thrilled to be the first law school to offer sneaker law as a course in our EASL program last spring,” said Associate Dean Greg Levy, director of the EASL program. “The course examines contemporary business and legal issues impacting the sneaker industry.”
Conference
Friday included a half-day conference (both in-person and streamed online) with topics including Bootlegs, Customs, & Copycats and Sneaker NFTs & the Metaverse, a Sneaker Law book talk and signing.
The first panel covered Bootlegs, Customs and Copycats and the second focused on Sneaker NFTS and the Metaverse. Each panel included a combination of lawyers, creatives, and business executives. After lunch, there was a keynote conversation with a prominent artist/designer Ari Saal Forman who was involved in a very public lawsuit with Nike over his now infamous Menthol 10s.
Combination of Law, Business, Design and Entrepreneurship
“This new competition and conference further our entrepreneurial and innovative spirit and is the first of its kind to bring together law students, business school students, and design students in an interdisciplinary competition and expose participants to all aspects of the sneaker ecosystem,” said Levy.
Miami Law’s Sneaker Law course is taught by the authors and creators of Sneaker Law, and adjunct professors at Miami Law, Kenneth Anand and Jared Goldstein, with Miami Law as the first U.S. law school with a week-long, full course in the emerging area. The study encompasses the areas of intellectual property law, sports law, and labor law and covers an overview of the $80 billion sneaker industry.
Competitors had to be currently enrolled in a J.D. or LL.M. program; graduate business school students and design students were also eligible to participate.
“We’re excited to bring Sneaker Law back to Miami Law and launch the first Sneaker Law case study competition,” said Anand and Goldstein. “Miami Law has been at the forefront of cutting-edge education, and we couldn’t be prouder to be expanding our relationship with the EASL program. Plus, Miami is a great place to be in March!”
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