Norman Wain, General Counsel, Chief of Business Affairs at USA Track & Field - E107

Friday, 30 April 2021

Norman Wain is General Counsel, Chief of Business Affairs at USA Track & Field which is the national governing body for the sport of track and field, long distance running, and race walking in the United States, since July 2010. His responsibilities include overseeing the USATF legal department (negotiating all contracts, managing corporate governance, handling anti-doping matters, overseeing litigation, managing the Athlete Representative program, etc).

He is also currently a member of World Athletics' Governance Commission since 2020.

LawInSport · Norman Wain, General Counsel, Chief of Business Affairs at USA Track & Field - E107

In this podcast Norman shares his journey into sports law and the various roles and responsibilities of a General Counsel with a sports organisation.

Norman speaks to LawInSport’s CEO, Sean Cottrell.

2:24 - Structure of USA Track & Field
9:10 - Creation of the LawInSport Advisory Board and the importance of in-house counsels perspective
12:22 - Journey into sports law through media law
23:00 - The evolving American sports landscape and how this has impacted on the role of in-house lawyers and the required skillset
28:13 - The different areas and type of work an in-house lawyer deals with on a daily basis
31:38 - The decision making process of instructs external counsel (lawyers)
36:20 - How Safe Sport is developing in USA and the challenges this brings
42:55 - How to manage working with a board of executives
48:00 - Managing work/life balance
56:16 - Dealing with the challenges of COVID-19 and working from home
59:19 - Looking to the future for USA Track & Field