Conflict of interest.......for the lawyers on the board

Football Insider Board
#1

First of all IMO we were fortunate that the Gus Bus never left the plains.

But through all of the coaching turmoil across the country I’ve had a question about the integrity of one agent representing coaches that have shown interest in the same opening. I believe this was the case with us and other schools. I’m sure it’s not illegal but I do question the ethics of negotiating/representing coaches vying for the same opening.

Maybe this did not happen but I strongly believe it did happen and will happen again.

We have a number of posters that are lawyers and may be more familiar with negotiations/representation like those I mentioned. Thoughts?

#2

Assuming we are dealing with true conflicts of interest (not sure one way or the other in a sports agent context), conflicts can pretty easily be waived by the coach/client, and are likely waived in the retention/representation agreement used by Sexton or others. The waiver needs to be clear and contain all of the pertinent facts, but that’s probably how Sexton and others do it. Not unethical with an appropriate waiver.

#3

LD,

Here’s the Arkansas rule (which is pretty uniform), which is pretty easy to follow.

https://courts.arkansas.gov/rules-and-a … nt-clients

#4

I’ve wondered the same thing. He has a very real conflict if he has two clients vying for the same job. However, I don’t know if Sexton is a lawyer. If not, he’s not bound by the same rules of ethics. As for waiver, I don’t think a lawyer can allow a client to waive an actual conflict of interest. I sure wouldn’t want to do it.

Amendment: I’ve re-read the rule cited by Huntin. Looks like written informed consent by both (or all) affected clients might allow him to represent 2-3 coaches vying for a position at the same school or schools. However, I wouldn’t do it. It appears the rules are a bit different when business transactions are at issue rather than when the conflicts occur during litigation. I only deal with the latter, so my experience is limited to that. Still, I’d be very careful if something I did might help client A but hurt client B. Not a good place to be. Maybe Sexton’s negotiations are good for all his clients. I don’t know.

#5

I can imagine what AD’s say about Sexton in private.

He is good at what he does playing the game for all it’s worth.

Thanks guys…

#6

Sexton is not an attorney. He got deep into the agent game so early he never made it to law school. BTW, Kevin Scanlon was also an agent for a time without going to law school.

#7