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TJSL to Host “Gladiators in the 21st Century” Conference

Experts Tackle the Issue of Violence and Injuries in Sports

SAN DIEGO – Thomas Jefferson School of Law’s Center for Sports Law and Policy is presenting “Gladiators in the 21st Century: Violence and Injuries in Athletics,” a conference at the law school on Saturday, November 10. This conference will tackle the issue of the violence and devastating injuries that pervade sports and focus on finding solutions on the medical, legal, policy and cultural levels. This daylong event is open to the public at no charge, and offers 3 hours of MCLE credit to attorneys.

The keynote speaker is legendary sports agent Leigh Steinberg, who has played a highly active role in getting the National Football League to address the problem of concussions among players.

TJSL’s event will feature highly engaging panels of distinguished legal and medical professionals as well as pro athletes. It is through well intentioned and well informed discourse, such as this conference, that acceptable and practical solutions will emerge. At the conference, Dr. Kristen Willeumier and Director of Research at Amen Clinics, presents the findings from the first brain imaging study on active and retired NFL football players that resulted in three published reports in peer-reviewed journals. Working with more than 100 players, representing 27 teams and all positions, the study measured the players’ cognitive capabilities before and after receiving brain-directed treatments. The study, using neuropsychological measures, revealed alarming results about damage caused from playing football, as well as the exciting ability to rehabilitate the brain and improve cognitive functions such as memory, mood, and reasoning among others.

The panelists:

Dr. David M. Reiss DMR Dynamics, Expert Witness for Concussion Litigation

Dr. Jacob E. Resch Director, Brain Injury Laboratory, University of Texas, Arlington

Dr. Dwight Zach Smith Medical Director, Beyond Wellness Talent Protection; Executive Director, New England Psychiatric Consultants, Plymouth, MA

Dr. Kristen Willeumier Director of Research, Amen Clinics

Jordan Kobritz SUNY Cortland, Professor and Chair of the Sport Management Department

Travis Leach, Attorney at Law, Sports Agent, Jennings Strouss

Jeff Levine Professor, Southern Illinois University

Gary Wolensky, Attorney at Law, Hewitt Wolensky, LLP

Matthew Mitten Marquette University, Professor of Law and Director of Sports Law Institute

Rodney K. Smith Thomas Jefferson School of Law, Distinguished Professor and Director of TJSL Center for Sports Law and Policy

Shandrea Williams Professor of Law, Phoenix College of Law

Today’s athletes are modern gladiators. They participate in society’s most violent, bone-jarring spectator events. They risk battered bodies and shattered limbs and, much worse, depression, dementia and possibly death as a result of traumatic brain injury, all the unnecessary consequence of the culture of violence that is pervasive in sports at all levels in today’s world.

In introducing this cutting edge conference, Professor Rod Smith, who Directs the Center for Sports Law and Policy at Thomas Jefferson said, “I am thrilled to announce that we are bringing leaders in medicine, law and sport to the law school to discuss and find solutions to the crisis of violence and injuries in sport.” Smith added, “I fear that, if those who love sport fail to address these excesses, other will do the work for us and we will not like the result. We must find solutions.”

This conference is funded though the generosity of an anonymous donor.

For additional information, please visit the event’s webpage and to register:

http://www.tjsl.edu/conferences/gladiators-conference-2012

Note: Professor Rodney Smith, director of TJSL’s Center for Law and Sports Policy is available for television, radio and print interviews in advance of the conference.