It always revs people’s interest when William Bray tells them he practices motorsports law. He has to remind them that he works in a business suit and tie, not a fire suit and helmet.
“I’m still dealing with lawsuits and contracts and working on behalf of corporate clients,” Bray said. “I’m still a lawyer.”
Since he founded the Bray Law Firm in Charlotte in 2002, Bray and his associates, Shannon Vandiver and David Tkach, have devoted a major part of their practice to motorsports law.
Their work isn’t unique because of the cases they handle - transactions and litigation - but because of the clients they serve: Drivers, teams, owners, executives, vendors, sponsors and other players within Charlotte’s burgeoning motorsports industry.
“This area certainly is being recognized nationally and internationally as we continue to attract people - not only in NASCAR but in other motorsports and in all of the industries that support motorsports,” said Vandiver, whose clients come from NASCAR, Indy Racing League, local tracks and everything in between.
“It’s a big business that needs support,” she said, “including legal support.”
RACING ROOTS
Business aside, the practice has allowed Bray and Vandiver to return to their roots.
Bray hails from Florence, S.C., where he grew up hearing about local legend Cale Yarborough and watching Southern 500 races from his grandfather’s 50-seat box at fabled Darlington Raceway. His grandfather even sponsored a NASCAR team in 1971.
It took nine years after he graduated from the University of South Carolina’s law school for Bray to get back to the track. Following stints as a prosecutor, private-practice attorney and president of a company that organized executive golf retreats, he founded his firm with a focus on sports and entertainment.
Today, half of the firm’s practice involves motorsports.
“We’ve been uniquely positioned to take advantage of this huge industry,” said Bray, whose office is just a short drive from Lowe’s Motor Speedway and the headquarters for nearly two-thirds of all NASCAR teams.
“If it was baseball, imagine every single A, triple A and major league team being based in the same city: That’s basically what we have here.”
Vandiver, a native of Huntersville, has witnessed the region’s motorsports industry grow from an up-close perspective.
Her father was a NASCAR driver, and her uncle served as his crew chief. They both are involved in NASCAR Nextel Cup to this day. Another uncle won three NASCAR Baby Grand National Series titles, and her aunt was the first female in history to race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
Her cousin, Adam Vandiver, races at speedways throughout the region, while her brothers, Emory and Rhett, currently work in motorsports marketing.
The Campbell University School of Law graduate said she can relate to clients, whether they are racing in NASCAR’s top division or just getting started at a local short track. She knows what it means to have a spotter or a toe-in knocked out on the car.
“I think it helps clients to talk with an attorney and not have to explain every detail of racing just to show how a contract was breached,” she said. “I’m not just a fan of the sport, but I have a real understanding of their sport.”
DEALING WITH A CHANGING INDUSTRY
In addition to knowing the sport’s lingo, Vandiver said she also understands its culture and the way it has transformed in recent years.
“I’m sure there are still deals being done on cocktail napkins and handshakes, but there’s more of a need for things to be done on a legal basis today,” she said. “You see people fighting in courtrooms instead of when my father came along, when they’d fight it out in places other than a courtroom.”
The firm’s motorsports practice involves drafting and negotiating contracts and licensing agreements, registration and protection of trademarks and other intellectual property rights, corporate counseling, business break-ups, employment matters, sponsor relations, rules compliance and pursuing and defending against lawsuits.
Each attorney has a focus - Bray on contracts, Vandiver on litigation and Tkash, a recent Duke University law school graduate, on trademark and other intellectual property issues - but their responsibilities often overlap.
Sometimes, the firm’s motorsports practice spills into its entertainment law sphere, but more often, they confront motorsports issues that couldn’t possibly carry over into another area.
“Many contracts have indemnification clauses that you wouldn’t see anywhere else, because we’re dealing with a high-risk endeavor, or you can have driver agreements, waiving claims for death or serious bodily injury, and they may include the driver’s spouse executing a similar release,” Bray said.
Deals can be complex as well. Winnings, for instance, can involve incentives provided by a variety of sponsor-funded programs - often as many as eight programs per driver.
“If you’re an attorney representing a driver, you need to know about all of those programs that exist and negotiate those points,” Bray said.
Bray, a former chair of the N.C. Bar Association’s sports and entertainment law section, and Vandiver, co-editor of the section’s newsletter, try to stay on top of the industry’s trends and keep their fellow motorsports law attorneys informed as well.
Last October, they organized the NCBA’s first motorsports law CLE, “Law in the Fast Lane.” Bray also teaches a sports law class at UNC-Charlotte.
“One thing we’re seeing is more challenges to independent contractor clauses in contracts when drivers have sued for earnings,” he said. “Teams are starting to take a closer look at it and saying to themselves that they would be better off deeming those drivers as employees.”
GROWING PRACTICE
The firm’s clients’ personalities and ages, and the high-profile nature of the business can all present challenges, Bray said.
“We represent very competitive clients who are out there trying to beat one another every weekend and trying to drive faster and win more races and battle in the points - that competition spills over into how our clients address litigation,” he said.
“We find ourselves in more fast and furious litigation, with more lawsuits involving injunctive relief than you’d find in a more routine area.”
The firm’s motorsports clients include Braun Racing, which features NASCAR Busch Series title contender Jason Leffler, as well as several up-and-coming drivers, such as Kelly Bires of the Woods Brothers/JTG Racing development program, Chase Miller of Bobby Hamilton Racing and teenagers Trevor Bayne, a 16-year-old in the Dale Earnhardt Inc. development program, and Joey Logano, a 17-year-old in the NASCAR Busch East and West Series. According to Logano’s Web site, long-time Nextel Cup driver Mark Martin called him the “real deal.”
“From a business development perspective, we think we should be working with young drivers and teams, and we hope they grow with us,” Bray said. “We’re a young firm, so we’re on a similar career curve.”
Like their clients, the attorneys find their daily work scrutinized by the public.
“Yes, it’s just a contract dispute, but these are contract disputes that could end up being displayed on national TV on a Sunday,” Vandiver said.
“If there isn’t a sponsor name on a car or a driver in the car, the damage is more severe, because everyone will hear about it.”
For all of the pressure that comes with a high-profile practice, there also comes plenty of subtle rewards, like the ones found while sitting in front of the TV with family on a Sunday afternoon.
“My son, Hutch [age 5], knows all of the drivers and teams we work with,” Bray said. “He likes to point to them on TV, and he’ll say, ‘There’s daddy’s friends.’”
Questions or comments may be directed to guy.loranger@nc.lawyersweekly.com.
September 24, 2007
