NY Liberty - VP Legal and Business Affairs


		In the Office

Rana Dershowitz works in conjunction with other lawyers in the legal department for the New York Knicks, Rangers, and Liberty. She also does some legal work for MSG Networks. Her work for a team, such as the Liberty, involves negotiating and drafting player contracts, plus sponsorship, marketing and agency agreements. She also advises senior team management regarding the league rules, which includes the agreement between the league and its players. In addition, Rana provides some legal advise regarding the operation of the MSG Cheering for Children foundation.

Marrying Her Career & Personal Interests Together

“I was a varsity athlete in college and did sports radio broadcasts for my college station,” explains Rana, who attended Harvard University and majored in Archaeology. “One summer during college, I was an intern at a local television stations,” she adds, noting that the experience helped her understand the business side of sports.

After graduating from law school, Rana spent five years working in a large law firm doing general commercial litigation among other legal work. She then spent one year at a smaller firm doing transactional TV and film/entertainment law. “I first heard about this position through a search firm advertisement placed in the NY Times,” explains Rana, who decided to see if she could marry her personal interests in sports, theater and television, with her legal career. The marriage was a success and she is now handling legal affairs in the sports and entertainment industry.

Skills & Abilities

Drafting, problem solving, legal analysis, plus the ability to effectively communicate and explain different legal statues to those without legal training are among the necessary skills for serving as a lawyer to a sports franchise. Using all of these skills on a regular basis keeps Rana very busy. While she does not work overtime or on weekends often, she does need to remain available for specific legal situations that come up from time to time at off-hours.

To be effective at this type of job, diligence, attention to detail, plus a commitment to the job and the company are all really important. “You need an interest in understanding the business goals of the company to be better able to render useful legal advise,” says Rana, who recommends studying hard and exploring different options before you choose a career path. “A legal degree can provide you with many different career paths. You should always keep an open mind about what you might want to do,” she adds.