Jessica Berman, who on Monday was named deputy commissioner of the National Lacrosse League and became the first woman deputy commissioner of any professional sports league in North America, credits her success to 15 years as a sports lawyer and the last four years as a sports business executive.

Berman served as deputy general counsel of the National Hockey League when she was tapped four years ago to move to the business side as hockey’s vice president for community development, culture and growth, as well as executive director of the NHL Foundation.