Best Lawyers in Massachusetts, United States for Sports Law
Massachusetts is a rich state with a wide range of legal issues spanning industries, personal matters and public interests. From complex corporate litigation in Boston to family law cases in Worcester, choosing the right attorney in Massachusetts is essential.
This directory exists to help you make that choice with confidence. Whether you're navigating a business dispute or seeking guidance on estate planning, this is your starting point to connect with peer-recognized professionals across the state.
Explore a Trusted Directory of Attorneys in Massachusetts
This page is a curated directory of attorneys in Massachusetts who have earned recognition through Best Lawyers' rigorous peer-review process. You can browse by legal specialty, location or an individual lawyer’s name. Every profile includes verified, current credentials to help you compare qualifications and make informed contact decisions.
You’ll find professionals who represent a wide range of practices and regions, all committed to delivering results aligned with ethical and professional standards. Whether you’re a business executive, in-house counsel or an individual facing a personal legal challenge, this tool helps you find a lawyer in Massachusetts with the right experience and focus.
Legal Services Across Every Corner of the Commonwealth
The needs of Massachusetts residents are varied. This directory helps you refine your search geographically and by practice area.
- Boston remains a national legal hub, with top-tier attorneys in corporate law, white-collar defense, healthcare regulation and intellectual property.
- Cambridge caters to academic institutions, biotech firms and tech startups, offering services in education law, patent filings and startup counsel.
- Worcester and Springfield provide broad representation in family law, personal injury and workers' compensation—all essential for clients seeking local support.
- Lowell and Lawrence are home to attorneys focused on immigration law and employment matters, including wage disputes, visa services and workplace discrimination claims.
Wherever your legal issue arises, you’ll find attorneys across Massachusetts who understand the unique legal landscape of their region. Whether you're looking to resolve a dispute, defend your rights or plan for the future, you’ll find guidance here.
Why Trust This Directory to Find Your Legal Advocate
Each attorney in Massachusetts listed here has earned their place through Best Lawyers’ time-tested selection process. Every year, attorneys are nominated and reviewed by their peers, with a focus on professional excellence, legal ethics and meaningful client outcomes.
Inclusion is not purchased. While attorneys can manage their profile information, only those selected for the most recent edition are featured. This gives clients confidence that they’re viewing a current and credible list of attorneys in Massachusetts.
The peer-review methodology reflects what fellow professionals value most—trust, competence and consistency. It’s a high bar and every lawyer listed has met it.
Start Your Search Today
This is where your legal search begins—with a trusted, structured list of attorneys in Massachusetts who have been recognized by their peers for professional excellence. Use the filters to narrow down by location, practice area or name. Whether you're looking for help with a business transaction or need a skilled advocate for a personal legal issue, this directory helps you find a lawyer in Massachusetts who fits your specific needs.
Practice Area Overview
Sports is a multi-billion dollar global industry enjoying unprecedented growth. Its success brings a corresponding increase in both the range and complexity of legal issues that it faces.
An effective sports law practice can address such issues by combining a business orientation, versatility, and deep knowledge of industry practices with multidisciplinary legal expertise.
Clients primarily include leagues and other governing bodies; teams and their owners (both individual and corporate); related entities such as marketing, media, and intellectual property affiliates; media companies; financial institutions; and executives. Third-party investors are becoming active in the industry as well.
At a minimum, practitioners must be authorities on governance — they must know a sport’s rules and bylaws inside and out. These rules touch on everything from nuts-and-bolts operational procedures to litigation and the negotiation of commercial contracts, and thus can affect any party in a given matter.
The core legal disciplines involved in practicing sports law are:
Banking and finance. Leagues and teams regularly need financing, notably for facilities construction or renovation, team purchases and sales, and liquidity management.
Commercial transactions. These range from buying and selling teams to agreements for broadcasting, sponsorships, licensing, stadium events, facilities management, merchandise vending, technology services, etc.
Executive compensation. Compensation packages for coaches, general managers, and other top executives are increasingly complicated.
Intellectual property. Command of this area is vital as industry participants pursue digital and multimedia avenues for growth, and do so in multiple jurisdictions.
Labor and employment. Collective bargaining agreements are at the heart of the major sports. Labor and employment lawyers negotiate the agreements and advise on their compliance, implementation, and vast ramifications for doing business.
Litigation. Disputes are common in an industry as huge and popular as sports. Antitrust matters are especially relevant, given the competition-related issues that often arise.
Media/entertainment. Constant change in the development and distribution of sports content means that mastery of media/entertainment law is essential.
Real estate. Sites for playing facilities must be purchased, developed, and leased, frequently involving negotiations with state and local governments and regulatory bodies.
Tax. Tax considerations must be addressed in all aspects of the industry.
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Paul Kelly is a principal in the Boston office of Jackson Lewis P.C. He has extensive experience in white collar criminal defense, internal investigations, NCAA enforcement investigations and infractions cases, and complex civil litigation. Paul chairs both the Collegiate and Professional Sports industry group and the White Collar and Government Enforcement resource group at the firm White Collar and Investigative Experience Paul is a trial attorney with substantial experience in both state a...
Our Methodology
Recognition by Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer review. Our methodology is designed to capture, as accurately as possible, the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
The Process
Best Lawyers employs a sophisticated, conscientious, rational, and transparent survey process designed to elicit meaningful and substantive evaluations of the quality of legal services. Our belief has always been that the quality of a peer review survey is directly related to the quality of the voters.