Agent Sues Overseas Basketball Team
It's every agent's and athlete's worst-case scenario: You find what seems like a plum spot for your client overseas, but the team fails to pay up. Because the team is not subject to jurisdiction of the courts in the United States, there isn't much the agent or athlete can do to obtain the money which is duly owed.
Attorney and agent Tom McLaughlin has been chasing Greek basketball team Olympiakos for about five years now, and he finally has the chance to get paid. He sued because a couple of his players were not paid by the basketball team, and he did not receive his agent's commission.
He proposed having the federal marshals seize all of the team's assets, but instead it looks as though he will need to settle for a deposition of the team's billionaire owner. Here's hoping he gets paid, and that Olympiakos honors its debt.
So how can athletes and agents avoid this scenario? There is no fool-proof method of ensuring that an overseas team will pay its debts. It can be prohibitively expensive for an American-based agent to initiate legal action abroad; subsequent collection proceedings would be even more costly. The best way to protect against this problem is probably to enter all situations with an open mind. Talk to fellow agents. Have your athletes talk to other athletes. McLaughlin sounds like a skilled agent and attorney, and Olympiakos is not a fledgling league in a country lacking rule of law. So if it could happen to him, it could happen to anyone.
For more information about sports related legal questions, contact sports law firm Koch & Trushin, P.A.
