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Christian Dennie is an attorney with a focus on commercial matters and sports law, including matters related to intercollegiate athletics, league governance, and collective bargaining, who has served clients all across the state of Texas and nationally in a myriad of legal disputes and negotiations. Christian has tried more than forty cases, bringing them before judges, juries, and arbitrators. He has successfully represented clients in a variety of areas of law, including sports, commercial litigation, tort litigation, consumer law, employment and labor law, products liability, and real estate.
Prior to joining Barlow Garsek & Simon, Christian worked in the athletics department at the University of Oklahoma and the University of Missouri. His athletics experience includes NCAA compliance and investigations, game day operations, and drafting and negotiating transactional documents. Since his return to private practice, Christian has continued to work with and advise sports-related clients, including student-athletes, coaches, conference offices, recruiting services, sports equipment providers and retailers, sports unions, and professional sports franchises and related entities, in litigation, NCAA compliance matters, and negotiating and drafting of agreements. Christian has drafted and negotiated, among other things, coaches contracts, facilities agreements, sponsorship and marketing agreements, compliance and recruiting manuals, and collective bargaining agreements.
Christian is often asked to speak on topics related to sports law and has lectured or served as a presenter or panelist at events held by, among others, Harvard Law School, SMU Dedman School of Law, and Thomas Jefferson School of Law and has been interviewed by media outlets for stories relating to athletics that have been featured in SI.com, ESPN.com, USA Today, New York Times, and several others. Christian is also the principal drafter of the College Sports Law Blog (http://www.bgsfirm.com/college-sports-law-blog), which is updated regularly to follow the trends in intercollegiate athletics and provide commentary on legal events relating to intercollegiate athletics.
In addition to his sports practice, Christian also works with and represents a broad array of clients in a wide variety of industries, including municipalities, churches, small and large businesses, real estate development, construction, consumer products, and retailers and wholesalers. Additionally, Christian has extensive legal experience in drafting agreements and policies and procedures for religious organizations, marketing firms, intercollegiate athletics, manufacturing companies, and many others.
While in college, Christian played centerfield for the Sam Houston State University baseball team while graduating in only 3 years.
Practice Areas
- Sports Law
- Business and Tort Litigation
- Real Estate
- Employment and Labor
- Consumer Law
- Corporate
- Products Liability
Licensed/Admitted to Practice
- State Bar of Texas
- United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas
- United States District Court for the Western District of Texas
- United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
Education
- University of Oklahoma College of Law (2004)
- Sam Houston State University (2001)
Professorship
- Texas Wesleyan University School of Law, Adjunct Professor of Sports Law and Deposition Skills Workshop, 2008-Present
- University of Missouri School of Law, Adjunct Professor of Sports Law, Summer 2007
Memberships
- SHSU Lettermen’s Association
- National Association for Athletics Compliance
- Sports Lawyer’s Association
- Texas Young Lawyers Association
- American Bar Association
- Tarrant County Bar Association
- Dallas County Bar Association
- Denton County Bar Association
Presentations
- Panelist, The BCS and the Future of Big-Time College Football, Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego, California, November 2011.
- Lecturer, The Pros and Cons of Conference Realignment, Texas Wesleyan University School of Law, Fort Worth, Texas, October 2011.
- Presenter, Institutional Control in Division II, Heartland Conference Fall Meeting, DFW, Texas, September 2011.
- Lecturer, What’s New in Sports Law: Everyone Needs Legal Counsel, Southern Methodist University, Simmons School of Education and Human Development, Dallas, Texas, September 2011.
- Presenter, Compliance Champion: A Guide to Institutional Control, Lone Star Conference Summer Compliance Workshop, Allen, Texas, June 2011.
- Presenter, Too Much Talk: Does the BCS Violate Antitrust Laws or Not?, Tarrant County Bench Bar Conference, Possum Kingdom, Texas, April 2011.
- Panelist, Comparative Amateurism, The Changing Face of Intercollegiate Athletics: Amateurs, Academics, and the Athletic Arms Race, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts, March 2011.
- Lecturer, The Multiple Areas of Sports Law: Being Knowledgeable to Provide Zealous Representation for your Clients, University of Oklahoma College of Law, Norman, Oklahoma, March 2011.
- Panelist, Sports Law, Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, Dallas, Texas, October 2010.
- Presenter, The Ins and Outs of Premises Liability Law in Texas, Costco/Gallagher Bassett Conference, Chicago, Illinois, June 2009.
- Lecturer, Sports and the Law: Getting in the Game, University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, April 2009.
- Lecturer, Contemporary Legal Issues in Amateur and Professional Sports, University of Dallas, Dallas, Texas, June 2008.
- Panelist, NCAA High School Review Process, 2007 Big 12 Conference Summer Rules Workshop, Dallas, Texas, June 2007.
- Presenter, Emerging Legal Issues in Amateur Sports, University of Missouri, Columbia, Missouri, April 2007.
Legal Publications
- Conference Realignment: From Backyard Brawls to Cash Cows, __ Miss. Sports L. Rev. __ (forthcoming 2012) .
- Changing the Game: The Litigation that May be the Catalyst for Change in Intercollegiate Athletics, 62 Syracuse L. Rev. 15 (2012).
- Tebow Drops Back to Pass: Videogames Have Crossed the Line, but Does the Right of Publicity Protect a Student-Athlete’s Likeness When Balanced Against the First Amendment?, 62 Ark. L. Rev. 645 (2009).
- There Are No Handshake Deals in College Coaching Contracts, 20 Andrews Ent. Indus. Litig. Rep. 2 (2008) (invited contribution).
- White Out Full Grant-in-Aid: An Antitrust Action the NCAA Cannot Afford to Lose, 7 Va. Sports & Ent. L.J. 97 (2007).
- From Clarett to Mayo: The Antitrust Labor Exemption Argument Continues, 8 Tex. Rev. Ent. & Sports L. 63 (2007) (invited contribution).
- Is Clarett Correct: A Glance at the Purview of the Antitrust Labor Exemption, 6 Tex. Rev. Ent. & Sports L. 1 (2005).
- Native American Mascots and Team Names: Throw Away the Key; The Lanham Act is Locked for Future Trademark Challenges, 15 Seton Hall J. Sports & Ent. L. 197 (2005).
- Amateurism Stifles a Student-Athlete’s Dream, 12 Sports Law. J. 221 (2005).
Commentary
- It’s Time for the NCAA to Get It Right, Chron. of Higher Educ. Vol. LVIII, Issue 19 (Jan. 13, 2012)(with G. Gurney).
- Uncle Luke v. Little Luke: Luther Campbell Sues Nevin Shapiro for Libel, Sports Lit. Alert Vol. 8, Issue 18 (Oct. 2011).
- Strict Penalties for Violators? Do NCAA Policies Work?, Legal Issues in Collegiate Athletics Vol. 12, Issue 4 (Feb. 2011); also published J. of NCAA Compliance (Jan.-Feb. 2011).
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