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Derek Keaton posted thisI am excited to share that I will be embarking on a new professional journey, leaving Sullivan & Cromwell LLP to join the National Football League (NFL) as an Associate Counsel. My time at S&C has been incredibly rewarding, filled with invaluable experiences and the opportunity to work alongside some of the most talented attorneys in the field. I am deeply grateful for the support and camaraderie I've experienced at S&C and for the lessons learned along the way. I am thrilled about the opportunity to work at the NFL and contribute to such a dynamic organization. A heartfelt thank you to my colleagues and mentors at S&C for their guidance, friendship, and the significant impact they've had on my professional growth.
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Derek Keaton liked thisStarting off the new season with a new headshot! 🏈 June marked my first anniversary with the NFL, and it’s hard to believe a full year has already passed. I’ve had such a great experience and feel incredibly lucky to work alongside such an amazing legal team. I’m excited for the season ahead and grateful for another opportunity to learn, grow, and see what’s next!
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Derek Keaton liked thisDerek Keaton liked thisLast week I wrapped up my 10-week internship at the National Football League (NFL). It was an incredibly valuable experience, and I could not be more grateful for the opportunity to work alongside so many talented people. I spent the summer as a Corporate Legal Intern, working on projects within the Sponsorships, Consumer Products, and Sports Betting spaces. I was given invaluable hands-on work from trademark and licensing issues to drafting commercial agreements. This experience encouraged me to think critically and understand the business of football through a legal lens. I would like to extend a huge thank you to my managers, Mary-Jane Rabeony and Jessie Sarkis, for making this such a rewarding experience. I would also like to thank the entire legal team for their guidance and support, and for trusting me with meaningful work this summer. Another huge thank you to Charlotte Lorentzen and Jacob Clarke for designing an internship program that provided a unique opportunity to see the NFL business from every angle, and for making this such a memorable summer. This summer has given me a deeper appreciation for the business behind the game, and I'm excited to carry those lessons back to school as I head into my 2L year.
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Derek Keaton liked thisHarvey II is here. One of the biggest changes is that you don’t have to keep bringing Harvey back up to speed. Agents open with the context of the matter or project already there, and Harvey remembers your style and preferences. So you can get into the work faster, without repeating the same setup every time. Read how Harvey II remembers how you work: https://lnkd.in/eJQkhi5aDerek Keaton liked thisLegal work carries history with it. A matter can run for months, lawyers step in and out, and earlier decisions shape what happens next. Most legal AI starts over every time you ask it to do something. Today, we're introducing Harvey II: smarter agents from the start. Agents now inherit what they need to do the work: the context of the matter or project, your team’s knowledge, and memory of your style and preferences. Less re-explaining, re-uploading, and reformatting, and more work that comes back the way you'd write it. And for the first time, Harvey has intelligence trained for legal work: Harvey Tenet, our first model, post-trained for legal reasoning. Welcome to the new Harvey: https://lnkd.in/eTMw8Ev8
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Derek Keaton liked thisDerek Keaton liked thisKicked off a new academic year this morning at the University of California, Berkeley - School of Law. Every year I say the same thing to myself walking into the classroom: these folks are absurdly talented, and most of them don't yet realize their biggest asset isn't their impressive resume. It's the people sitting next to them. So my pitch to my students is unchanged: have fun; law school is genuinely one of the last times in your life you get paid, in optionality, not cash, to think. Work hard, because talent without discipline is just a personality trait. And above all, get obsessed with your peers, not your professors. Greatness isn't a solo sport; it's a network effect. The person you underestimate in your section will either hire you, fund you, or bail you out in twenty years. Enjoy what Berkeley and California have to offer while you're here. But the real curriculum is the people to your left and right. #BerkeleyLaw #Berkeley #LegalEducation #LawSchool #LawStudents #Networking #California #Cal #UvaLaw #EmoryLaw #LLM #GoBears
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Derek Keaton liked thisDerek Keaton liked thisI’ve officially surpassed my first 90 days with the Golden State Valkyries, and it feels like the perfect time to pause and share just 3️⃣ of my learnings so far: League ➡️ Team / 🏈 ➡️ 🏀 Coming from the NFL league office, I was used to thinking at a macro level across 32 teams and managing a few core initiatives throughout the season. Moving from league to team and football to basketball has meant a much faster pace, more frequent programming, and the opportunity to dive much deeper into the work. Corporate Partnerships 🫱🏼🫲🏻 Community One of my biggest areas of learning has been experiencing how closely Community and Corporate Partnerships work together. Rather than community being a separate piece of a partnership, I’ve had the opportunity to help build community impact into the partnership itself and to think creatively about how a brand’s goals, our players, and the needs of our community can intersect. It’s been enlightening to collaborate from the initial idea through execution, and see how strong partnerships can create value for everyone involved while ultimately driving meaningful impact in our community. 💭 Shaping What's Next Being part of a young organization means constantly asking: What does our community need? What can we build that feels uniquely Valkyries? How can we set a new standard? It’s taught me the importance of balancing vision with flexibility and being willing to build, learn, and most importantly, evolve along the way. 90+ days in, I’m grateful for how much I’ve learned, how much I’ve grown, and the opportunity to keep building. Excited for what’s ahead. 💜 #GoldenStateValkyries #WNBA #CommunityImpact #SocialImpact #WomenInSports
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Derek Keaton liked thisDerek Keaton liked thisBenjamin Beller, Jacob Croke, Samantha Hynes, Julia Malkina, Nicholas Menillo, Beth Newton and Lenny Traps were named to Benchmark Litigation’s 2026 “40 & Under” list, which recognizes the most impressive young litigation lawyers in the United States and Canada. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eNsAJRViBenchmark Litigation Names Seven S&C Partners to its 2026 ‘40 & Under’ ListBenchmark Litigation Names Seven S&C Partners to its 2026 ‘40 & Under’ List
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Derek Keaton liked thisDerek Keaton liked thisI am thrilled to share that after a wonderful summer at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, I have accepted an offer to return as a full-time Associate following graduation! This summer was an incredible opportunity to learn from exceptional lawyers, work on meaningful and complex matters, and experience firsthand what makes Akin such a special place. I am so grateful for the mentorship and support that so many people invested in me throughout the summer. A special thank you to Bernd Janzen, Ryan Fayhee, Susan Kovarovics, and The Honorable Ileana Ros-Lehtinen for your guidance and encouragement. I also want to extend my sincere thanks to our incredible Recruiting and Professional Development team—Julius Chen and Ashley Nettles—for creating such a thoughtful and engaging summer program. I am also excited to continue serving as an Akin Ambassador at American University Washington College of Law this year. If you're an AUWCL student interested in learning more about Akin Gump or the summer program, please don't hesitate to reach out—I'd love to connect! Thank you again to everyone who made this summer so memorable. I am honored and excited to be joining the Akin Gump team!
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Derek Keaton liked thisDelighted to be selected for Bloomberg Law's "They've Got Next: The 40 Under 40." Honored to get to be part of this outstanding group, especially my partner Peter Jones who is advising on some of the biggest tech M&A deals of our time. #40under40 #SullCrom #Bloomberg #SecuritiesLitigationDerek Keaton liked thisPeter Jones and Julia Malkina have been named to Bloomberg Law’s “They’ve Got Next: The 40 Under 40” report highlighting exceptional lawyers at law firms, companies, nonprofit organizations and government agencies. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/eJxhS-pX
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Derek Keaton liked thisDerek Keaton liked thisAfter five formative years in private practice, I'm thrilled to share that I've joined HOF Capital as Associate Counsel. I'm deeply grateful to my colleagues and mentors at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP for their guidance and friendship. My time at both firms taught me what legal excellence demands: sound judgment when the stakes are highest, an uncompromising commitment to client service, and the collaborative spirit that makes both possible. I’ll carry those lessons forward throughout my career. At HOF, I look forward to working alongside an exceptional team in support of the firm's investment and fund activities, and to partnering with ambitious founders building generational, sector-defining companies.
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Blank Rome LLP
Appellate practice plays a distinct and influential role in the legal system. In this Law.com Litigation Daily article, Judge Stephen M. Orlofsky—who recently established the Stephen M. Orlofsky Endowed Appellate Advocacy Fund at Rutgers Law School to support expanded opportunities for appellate instruction—discusses the importance of specialized training in preparing law students and legal professionals for appellate practice. Read: bit.ly/46ej0lw #appellatelitigation #appellateadvocacy #litigation
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Marc Misthal
Is DraftKings infringing on the NCAA's basketball tournament marks? The NCAA operates the NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments, which are among the most famous and widely recognized sporting events in the U.S. It has done so since at least as early as 1982. The tournaments are held annually over approximately three weeks each spring and broadcast nationwide across multiple television and digital platforms. They are watched by 10s of millions of viewers. In connection with the basketball tournaments, the NCAA has secured a number of trademark registrations, including registrations for MARCH MADNESS, SWEET SIXTEEN, ELITE EIGHT, FINAL FOUR and others. The NCAA is known to be aggressive in protecting its trademark rights. The NCAA has a longstanding position of not associating itself or the tournaments with gambling. Studies show that players suffer abuse as a result of gambling related losses. Further, the NCAA has encouraged state regulators to ban bets on the performance of specific players. DraftKings is a nationwide sports betting platform, offering numerous betting options, including bets on player performance. This use appears in metatags and search engine optimization. With the start of the current NCAA tournament, DraftKings has begun using the NCAA's marks and similar marks (such as MARCH MANIA) on its betting platform. Such use is without the NCAA's consent. And so the NCAA has sued DraftKings for trademark infringement, false association and dilution. The complaint alleges that DraftKings could use other terms to refer to the NCAA tournaments. It also identifies a 2001 case where a court found use of the NCAA marks in connection with gambling to be dilution. The NCAA has already filed a motion for a temporary restraining order. DraftKings has made statements to the press asserting that it does not use the term March Madness as a trademark, but rather as a fair use to identify the tournament and its respective games. Is there trademark infringement here? Is it a fair use? What about dilution? What do you think?
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