David Williamson is a sports attorney and founding partner of Wilmel Sport.
David began his legal career as a personal injury attorney, alongside his founding partner Angel Melendez, whom he met through school. His reason for becoming a lawyer is that he saw too many poor quality lawyers in the courtroom, during his time as a social worker. And as a result, he challenged himself to become a better lawyer by going to Suffolk Law School and start his own practice. But it would not be until the launch of the Men’s League Soccer in the US (1996) that he and his partner incorporated the sports management side to their firm.
As a sports attorney, representing soccer players from all over the world, he wakes up every morning at 5:30 am to reach out to international players, coaches, and general managers via Skype. His work includes contract negotiations; sponsorship deals; and endorsement deals. One course that he suggests law school students to take is Professional Responsibility.
As an adjunct professor at Suffolk University–teaching Business, Ethics & Law–he teaches his students that doing things the right way on day one is so vital in his line of work.
“We do it right; we do it ethically. We don’t need more lawyers, we need more lawyers with good ethics”
Professional Responsibility, he says, will carry you through out your career as a lawyer. So take it very seriously. And his biggest advice to all law school students is to get out and hustle–but legitimately.
Currently he is writing a book called, “The Legitimate Hustle” which he explains how hustling is a part of business and life. However, when hustling is not done legitimately, people then find themselves in deep trouble. He says everybody understands “the hustle” but not everyone understands “the legitimate hustle.” Furthermore, he tells law school students to get much experience as you can and be prepared to volunteer your time–whether it be in the sports industry or collegiate programs. Colleges, he says, has a huge compliance department–so he suggest to start there.
Being an attorney in the world of sports, he says, is a very good lucrative business.
To follow David and his soccer clients go to www.facebook.com/davidross.williamson.7
To learn more about him and his firm go to www.wilmelsport.com
Filed under: Networking, Sports Tagged: charlie davies, david williamson, football, futbol, Law School, mls, scandinavia, soccer, South America, Suffolk Law School, UK, wilmel sports
