Working as an attorney at a sports organization is, in many ways, not so different from working at any other company, attorneys from the U.S. Olympic Committee and the National Basketball Association said in a panel discussion Thursday. Brand protection, they said, is top of mind for lawyers in most organizations, and when lawyers are tasked with dual legal and compliance roles, preserving the integrity of that brand is critical.
No matter the organization, being a good corporate citizen often goes hand in hand with the goodwill of the brand, said Christopher McCleary, general counsel and chief ethics officer at the U.S. Olympic Committee, while speaking at Ethisphere Institute’s ninth annual Global Ethics Summit held in New York City this week. “Ethics problems, compliance problems, can become brand problems in every case.”
