Gregg Clifton Speaks with BallNine for Article on Baseball, Sports Law, and Move to Lewis Brisbois

June 29, 2022

Phoenix Partner Gregg E. Clifton recently spoke with BallNine, a baseball industry-focused site, for an article titled, “Law of the Game,” which discusses Mr. Clifton’s recent move to Lewis Brisbois, his journey to becoming a sports law attorney, and his perspectives on baseball.

Phoenix, Ariz. (June 29, 2022) - Phoenix Partner Gregg E. Clifton recently spoke with BallNine, a baseball industry-focused site, for an article titled, “Law of the Game,” which discusses Mr. Clifton’s recent move to Lewis Brisbois, his journey to becoming a sports law attorney, and his perspectives on baseball.

As the article describes, Mr. Clifton, who joined Lewis Brisbois' Entertainment, Media & Sports Practice earlier this year, previously represented high-profile baseball players, including Tom Glavine, David Wells, Mark Mulder, and Luis Gonzalez, as their agent. He now handles players’ business needs from a legal perspective and advises colleges and universities, NCAA conferences, and professional teams on an array of legal issues. 

In discussing his role at Lewis Brisbois, Mr. Clifton told BallNine, “It gives me a larger platform. . . . Lewis Brisbois has more than 40 different areas of practice and more than 50 offices around the country so there isn’t an area in which we can’t help.” The article further notes that Mr. Clifton will be maintaining Lewis Brisbois’ newly created sports blog, The Official Review, and will also work with his colleague, Houston Partner John Long, to assist collegiate clients with the various developing legal issues impacting student athletes.

Moreover, the article explains that Mr. Clifton grew up in a “sports-rich atmosphere,” which “greatly influenced” him, with baseball being his favorite. In describing how he entered the sports world, Mr. Clifton elaborated, “There was a desire to work on the management side of things but there weren’t a lot of opportunities the same way there are today. . . . For me, after finishing law school, the only way to get into the business was from the agent side and I worked as a lawyer for five years before I broke in.”

Referring to Mr. Clifton as “an integral part of the baseball landscape,” the article notes that he “is the only lawyer to have ever successfully litigated a winning salary arbitration case on behalf of both a player and multiple teams during his career.” Mr. Clifton told the publication, “I’m 61 years old but I have to be honest, I feel like I am 21. . . . I still work 12-hour days and I work seven days a week. I feel like I have been fortunate in my adult work life. I’ve been able to do something I enjoy on a daily basis.”

Mr. Clifton is a member of Lewis Brisbois' Entertainment, Media & Sports and Labor & Employment Practices. He has extensive experience in the collegiate and professional sports world and has advised numerous professional franchises on a range of labor and employment issues, including Title III ADA regulatory compliance and wage and hour issues.

Read the full BallNine article here.